Contracts for legal services for over BGN 400,000 have been concluded by the companies in the system of the Ministry of Economy and Industry with a certain law firm. This is what a ministry check showed. Most of the contracts were signed in the June-August period, based on the principle of direct negotiation, and many of them have serious clauses for early termination penalties.
Out of 13 companies investigated at this time, 7 of them have signed contracts with the same law firm. It is notable that state-owned companies awarded multiple contracts to this contractor, possibly with the intention of breaking up the amounts so as not to attract the attention of auditors. A total of 16 contracts were concluded for legal assistance in specific cases. The sum of these contracts is about BGN 180,000 and a large part of them were paid extremely quickly.
Three companies in the system of the Ministry of Economy and Industry have undertaken a similar obligation, the total amount being about BGN 20,000 per month or nearly a quarter of a million per year. It should be noted that these contracts are legally enforceable, but the question remains open as to what service the companies received in return for the funds paid.
The summarized information shows that in a few months, a certain law firm has generated contracts for over BGN 400,000 in the Ministry of Economy and Industry system alone. The majority of them were concluded by the State Consolidation Company and its subsidiaries. The course of action of the enterprises, which at the same time „opened“ this office and began to enter into similar contracts, where the aim seems to have been to pay as much money as possible in the shortest time, warrants further investigation and by other specialized bodies.
There is a signal that one of the partners in this law firm is directly related to Head of staff of Korneliya Ninova. Additionally, there are allegations that the same law firm represents the previous Minister of Economy and Industry in her personal legal disputes. For this reason, the Ministry of Economy and Industry referred the Commission for Combating Corruption and for Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property to check whether there is a conflict of interest.
It should be investigated whether the Head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic affairs /in the period December-August 2022/ in the Council of Ministers is in a direct family relationship with one of the partners in the law firm and whether this circumstance influenced the choice in the provision of services from the state.
The investigation has not ended, and other inspection bodies will be referred to establish on what basis the same contractor was chosen by the majority of companies in the system of the Ministry of Economy and Industry and how the state interest was protected when concluding contracts for a subscription without counter service or with 100% advance payment.
