From "Vazrazhdane", they submitted a report to the Prosecutor's Office and SANS about the presence of crimes of a general nature committed in the activities of "Bulgartransgaz" EAD in the project for the expansion of the "Chiren" Underground Gas Storage Facility.
“You know that the European Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation into the misuse of European funds on a particularly large scale. But what is happening in Chiren is much more than misuse of European money. It is also about endangering a facility of national importance, such as our gas storage facility, and therefore endangering our energy security. In addition, human lives are also at risk, since the amended technical project for construction provides for a significant increase in the working pressure due to the changed type of boreholes, without any research having been conducted into the condition of the old boreholes, some of which are over 50 years old, and how long they would last," said MP from "Vazrazhdane" Yordan Todorov.
Our institutions should investigate all of this, because the powers of the EP only extend to investigating abuses of European funding. And since our prosecutor's office and the National Security Service (DANS) obviously believe that there is no reason to take action themselves, from "Vazrazhdane" submitted a signal to be checked for the presence of data on crimes of a general nature within the meaning of the Criminal Code, which harmed the state interest.
“In the signal, we have summarized data and circumstances brought to the public domain by various groups of interested parties, from the signal sent by the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum to the European Prosecutor's Office, as well as by employees of “Bulgartransgaz“ EAD - proven, long-standing highly educated and highly qualified experts in the field who are afraid to speak publicly on the topic, as they are threatened by the company's management with dismissal or are directly dismissed disciplinary action”, Todorov also commented.
The attempts to urgently return Vladimir Malinov as head of “Bulgartransgaz” in violation of the “Anti-Corruption Act” also show how worried some of the people involved are. It can be considered a deliberate act to conceal the facts and circumstances surrounding this scandal. There was a hearing on the Chiren issue in December last year. Then, when asked if he planned to return to “Bulgartransgaz”, Malinov categorically rejected such a possibility. He explained that he was not on leave on purpose, but had left the company before becoming the acting Minister of Energy. All this shows that he did not want to and did not plan to return, but rather he had to or was forced to do so in order to cover up everything that he himself started.
“We will monitor what is happening in Chiren, but not only. Corruption in our state energy sector has reached unprecedented levels in the last 3-4 years. We are about to file a report with the Prosecutor's Office and the National Agency for National Security and Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria, and for abuses on a particularly large scale at the Kozloduy NPP”, Todorov was categorical.