Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
The political wrestle in Bulgaria for 2.04 million pensions is spectacular, but blood is being shed elsewhere – in the behind-the-scenes battle for the distribution of seats in regulators and control bodies. The procedures for selecting new members of the regulators were set in motion with such speed, as if someone was in a hurry to solidify their power before the final gong had rung. In the turmoil of budget discussions, quasi-Trumpist apotheosis and outbursts against sending soldiers to Ukraine - “never and in any form” - seizing untouchable power becomes easy.
The public interest is ignored, but on the other hand, some others are satisfied with the candidates. Now it remains to choose them. For some control bodies, there are many nominations - both from the parties in the ruling coalition and from the opposition, for others - only from GERB-SDF.
“DPS-New Beginning” of the oligarch and sanctioned for corruption Delyan Peevski announced that it would not nominate candidates, but in the nominations made by others, those loyal to Peevski were quickly recognized. Also, tested GERB cadres.
In whose hands will the CPC be
The first names in focus are the nominee for a second term as head of “Banking Supervision” Radoslav Milenkov and Rosen Karadimov, nominated by the BSP for chairman of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). While there were no particular reactions to Milenkov's candidacy, except for Arman Babikyan from the “Poisonous Trio” - that “he passes for a Borisov and Peevski man”, analysts and political forces such as the PP-DB and the MRF-DPS publicly objected to Karadimov.
Nominated by the BSP-United Left as a candidate, Karadimov, who is under the supervision of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB), was Prime Minister Stanishev's chief of staff during the “triple coalition”. Surprisingly, he reappeared in power in 2022, when President Radev's caretaker cabinet placed him in the BDB, and in Glavchev's he took the post of caretaker minister of innovations.
The CPC is a body with significant influence on business and the economy, authorizing mergers and acquisitions of companies, regulating violations of competition, preventing monopolies, cartels and unfair practices - or not. Thanks (s) to the CPC, “Lukoil” continues to dictate the conditions on the fuel market, and the owner of Nova TV and “Vivacom” was quickly allowed to buy “Bulsatcom” - although the other two telecoms protested due to “unacceptable concentration with a particularly high market share”.
There are the most nominations for this commission - 10 for seven seats. And how effectively the CPC works, Bulgarians feel in their pockets. Only it could check and punish cartels - from oil producers to retail chains and mobile services, to guarantee fair and market-adequate prices. It seems strange that the BSP does not defend its candidate for the CPC (at its last congress, the party did not distance itself from Peevski, as one of the delegates requested). It is also strange that GERB does not propose a chairman - it nominates one of its prominent lawyers, Radoslav Cholakov, as deputy chairman, and three others - as members.
But Karadimov will be faced by the PP-DB nominee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivan Stoynev, a lecturer in European law at Sofia University, a specialist in competition law, and Dr. Julian Voinov as a member. The current chairwoman of the CPC, Yulia Nenkova, mother of GERB MP Alexander Nenkov, is in her 9th year in office.
At first glance, Karadimov seems to be winning, but the vote in the plenary hall, which requires a majority of more than half of those present for the election, could change the result. It depends on the “invisible” negotiations that the political forces are conducting.
BNB in the context of the euro
Along with the nominations, connections with Corpbank were recalled, both of Karadimov - through witness statements about “10 thousand euros in hand” every month, and of Milenkov - through his position as head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the distribution of funds from the liquidation of assets.
And in the context of approaching the eurozone, the positions in the BNB are gaining even greater weight. Although the supervisory functions over significant banks will be transferred to the European Central Bank (ECB) within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, smaller banks will remain under the supervision of the BNB - but in coordination with the ECB. Milenkov, who was also on the board of the Sofia Municipal Bank, headed the “Banking Supervision” after the resignation of Dimitar Kostov in 2019. Both then and now he is the only - without alternative - candidate for the post.
KEVR - is the chairmanship for GERB?
For another powerful regulator, such as the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), the chairmanship seems destined for GERB and its candidate Plamen Mladenovski, current director of the "Electricity and Thermal Power" Directorate in the regulator. The same one whom the party leader Boyko Borisov said he did not know, although GERB is proposing him for the second time for the position. This is the second commission for which there are a large number of nominations.
PP-DB is also nominating its candidate for this control body - Meglena Rusenova, nominated by PP-DB for both chairman and energy commissioner and supported by the energy industry. BSP-United Left is proposing Tasko Ermenkov for energy commissioner. DPS-DPS is counting on securing the seat of water commissioner for long-time MP Remzi Osman, which is also being fought for by Alexandra Bogoyavlenska, supported by ITN.
Unlike DPS-Peevski, “Vazrazhdane” and MECH, which announced that they would not nominate candidates for regulators, PP-DB is nominating its own representatives. Their chances depend on other agreements with GERB, including the opening of the procedure for selecting the parliamentary quota in the Supreme Judicial Council - which failed due to the lack of a quorum, which angered Borisov. He was also angry yesterday at the criticism of “We Continue the Change” that many candidates are tied to Peevski and threatened that regulators will not be elected.
One figure cannot guarantee real change
However, removing one or another figure does not guarantee that the regulators will work “for the benefit of the people”. Decisions in them are not made alone, but together with the other members, elected by other political forces. If these institutions do not function independently, but under pressure or the influence of party/corporate interests, even the best candidate for head of a regulatory body will not guarantee real change.
The system for electing regulators, in which key figures are chosen through compromises and political deals, not only weakens trust in these institutions, but also renders their role as an effective control body over economic and financial processes meaningless. The question of how they work cannot be considered in isolation from the rehabilitation of the judicial system due to their entanglements. Just as it is difficult to believe in the objectivity of the judicial system, it is also a problem for the decisions of regulators, because any attempt at fairness and transparency can be undermined by the shortcomings in the justice system.
The vote for the CPC will show whether a “sanitary cordon” for candidates with addictions is in effect - or whether support for some will be withdrawn/replaced by support for others. The other spectacles are by default going on.