The United States and Great Britain sanctioned eight Bulgarians on charges of corruption – #United #States #Great #Britain #sanctioned #Bulgarians #charges #corruption
WASHINGTON/LONDON 10 February (Reuters) – USA and Great Britain on Friday sanctioned eight Bulgarians accused of corruption, including the country’s richest man and a former minister who allegedly profited illegally from deals with Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant and Russian energy companies.
The coordinated actions are “aimed at combating systemic corruption that results in illicit personal gain, undermines the country’s democratic institutions, and perpetuates Russia’s corrosive dependence on energy sources.” USA It is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Finance.
NATO and Europe Bulgaria, a member of the EU, is ranked among the most corrupt countries in Europe according to advocacy group Transparency International, and has been criticized for failing to root out corruption.
Washington imposed sanctions on 5 former Bulgarian officials and 5 institutions controlled by two of them. London banned entry to Britain, including Vasyl Bojkov, the country’s richest man, in 2021 USA froze the assets of three more Bulgarians who were subject to sanctions.
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The U.S. measures freeze any assets and interests the five former officials and five entities have in the United States, the statement said.
Among those sanctioned Russia in exchange for fixed-price deals for gas, nuclear fuel and support for the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant a bribe alan, a former energy minister who “repeatedly entered into corrupt energy contracts” with Russian energy firms and deputy There is also Rumen Ovcharov. It was stated that the institution (KNPP) is the only nuclear facility in Bulgaria.
Ovcharov refused to comment.
The statement said he and another former energy minister, Alexander Nikolov, coordinated contracts to buy power from KNPP, and then they re- national sold to the electricity company.
Nicholov said he did not know why he was sanctioned.
Washington also ex parliament member Nikolay Malinov the president To the judge to allow him to go to Russia to collect the award from Vladimir Putin a bribe he was targeted according to his claim. The statement says that Malinov was charged with espionage in 2019 imprisonment after that, it was forbidden to leave Bulgaria.
“I’m flattered. If the US Treasury speaks against me, it means that I am going in the right direction,” Malinov said in response.
Former lawmaker and finance minister Vladislav Goranova paid tens of millions of euros to Bulgarian officials in exchange for legislation favoring the gambling industry, the Treasury said. a bribe sanction was applied according to the scheme.
Goranov said that he was not familiar with the allegations.
Along with the fugitive Bojkov, Britain the past deputy Delyan Peevski and a former member of the board of the largest state energy company in the country national targeted the security officer Ilko Jelyazkov with allegations of misuse of state funds.
Reporting by Jonathan Landey in Washington and Sachin Ravikumar in London; Additional reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia; Edited by Leslie Adler
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2023-02-11 03:31:36
Source – reuters
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