Sensational Appointments: Anti-Corruption Fund Exposes Web of Familial, Friendly, and Party Ties in Bulgartransgaz
The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) has unveiled a scheme involving dozens of familial, friendly, and party appointments to the highest and most responsible positions within the state-owned company Bulgartransgaz (BTG). The majority of these individuals are linked to GERB or are personal associates of Boyko Borisov, as per the investigation.
However, other political figures have also emerged, including from Nova Alternativa, a coalition partner of Ahmed Dogan’s "Alliance for Rights and Freedoms." As of now, the party headquarters mentioned in the investigation have not reacted to these revelations.
The latest ACF data includes a list of 33 BTG employees with ties to political parties, corporate interests, and state oversight bodies. Some names are familiar, such as:
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Deлян Dimitrov, husband of GERB’s parliamentary group chairperson Sevdelina Arnaoudova, who served on the company’s management board for eight years until early 2023. During Arnaoudova’s arrest in 2022, a official SUV belonging to the Saudi consortium "Arwad," builder of the Turkish Stream pipeline, was found at their residence.
- Plabela Nenkova, wife of GERB MP Alexander Nenkova, was formerly a director at BTG. She resigned following another scandal surrounding appointments in energy companies. Nenkova is now deputy executive director at "Glavbolgarstroy Holding," a company directly involved in the Investigation of the non-implemented expansion of the gas storage facility "Chiren." The couple’s godparents include the late BTG director Georgi Georgiev and former GERB MP Teodora Georgieva.
The ACF report also highlights relatives of Borisov’s inner circle who have found jobs at BTG:
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Nadezhda Stoykova, director of Public Procurement, is identified by the ACF as a daughter of Damyan Stoikov, vice-president of the Bulgarian Judo Federation and a close associate of the GERB chairman.
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The daughter of the late fire chief General Kiril Voynov, also considered close to Borisov, is employed as a security officer at BTG.
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Anton Georgiev, husband of the former bodyguard of Borisov’s Todor Kodejkov, was appointed as a specialist for "Chiren" contract management.
- Stefka Alexandrova, wife of former long-time bodyguard Ivan Stoyanov, serves as a secretary to the management board and an expert for key projects at BTG.
Notably, the CEO of Glavbolgarstroy, Bulgaria’s largest construction company, is married to a "Bulgartransgaz" senior specialist responsible for capacity management.
Concerningly, the ACF points out the appointment of Alexander Kanazirski to the BTG supervisory board due to "concerns about possible Russian energy-related influences." According to the fund, Kanazirski authored a document outlining the special envoy program of Vladimir Putin’s energy projects, Alexander Babakov, in Sofia in 2013. He is also a founder of a private company which allegedly owes over 220,000 BGN to the National Revenue Agency.
These revelations are part of the ACF’s larger exposes surrounding the ongoing scandal of the allegedly corrupt expansion of BTG’s "Chiren" gas storage facility, which could potentially result in Bulgaria losing 78 million EUR from the EU intended for the renewal of critical gas infrastructure.
The Anti-Corruption Fund’s revelations have raised serious questions about the independence and effectiveness of Bulgaria’s strategic energy projects and state organs overseeing their implementation.
