“Corruption – Borisov and Geshev talk.”
This is how the analyst and energy expert Iliyan Vassilev commented on the accusations brought by the prosecutor’s office against the former minister Alexander Nikolov and the former director of „Bulgargaz“ Lyudmil Yotsov for the suspended supplies from „Gazprom“.
„I have read the indictment against Lyudmil Yotsov, I will not go into depth, I will only say that he cannot be convicted in any way. Nor Minister Nikolov or his deputy,“ Iliyan Vasilev is categorical in his post on the social network Facebook. He explained:
„First, that the decision to contract directly with suppliers in the emergency situation cannot be attacked. There is no procedure that fits into the state of emergency – from today to tomorrow. I leave the nonsense that they should have been cooking since March to the authors. There is a decision by an international court that what happened is force majeure and by the European Commission that payment in rubles is not allowed.“
„Secondly, Bulgargaz’s practice, developed during the time of Nikolay Pavlov, is to make direct offers to receive offers to 10-12 companies that are shortlisted as proven suppliers. A rabbit won’t jump out here. Pavlov did not have a decision of the IC to sign the second contract to extend supplies from the Azeris. Third, nowhere does it say that the IC has to make a decision. The minister of energy is the principal, not the Ministry of the Interior,“ the expert emphasized.
He commented that the view quoted in the prosecution’s indictment that White&Case had said that the Russians’ terms should be accepted and paid in rubles to ensure continuity of supply was reminiscent of their role in the loss of the arbitration with Rosatom. This is not a matter of legal interpretation, but a business and political decision.
„To cool the prosecution’s enthusiasm the moment they ask for this opinion W and K to confirm it in court, they will find that the opinion was confidential, for the use of the client only and cannot be used in court and other negotiations. Because there is a huge risk department there, which protects them from claims for professional liability,“ Vassilev emphasized.
He is adamant that the thesis of Delyan Dobrev from GERB, that we once again bought Russian gas, is frankly stupid and indefensible in court. And then and now we buy a Greek mix of Russian, Azeri, LNG – liquefied natural gas, etc. As for the higher price – this is damage for which Bulgargaz should sue GPE, as other European companies do.
MET were bad, why did Bulgargaz import LNG through them in February?
Russian gas is currently entering Bulgaria, through the Turkish Stream, under the contract of Sustainable Energy Supply, Litasco’s company and a businessman you know, share with Gazexport, which supplies the refinery in Burgas. Quantities are 15% of consumption – 400+ mcm/y, former Energico International. The company started selling „surpluses“ to other consumers and traders in our country, displacing „Bulgargaz“!
Everyone is silent on the subject, the energy expert is categorical. He also announced:
„The situation reminds me of the arbitration case against „Rosatom“, which was „lost“ against large bribes for the Bulgarian authorities. And now the acting minister, with his talk that we will lose arbitration against „Gazexport“ and this case of the prosecutor’s office, is preparing the ground for giving some money to „GPE – Gazpromexport“ in order to return part of it to the initiators of the attacks against Alexander Nikolov , Danail Nikolov and Lyudmil Yotsov.“
