Stanishev's former cabinet under attack for 'wasting' 2.16B leva of the fiscal reserve
Bulgaria's former government of socialist prime minister Sergey Stanishev approved more than 150 contracts worth 2.16 billion leva, for which there was no previously approved or delegated financing, an ad hoc Parliament committee said in its report, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on April 22 2010.The committee was tasked with examining the expenditures of the former cabinet, which allegedly only worsened the state of the national economy during the global economic downturn.A representative of the committee outlined the alleged "violations" of the former cabinet in Parliament for more than an hour, citing the "water mirror" hydro project at the Arda River in Kurdjali, NPP Kozloduy, the hydro power plant Tsankov Kamuk, as well as land swops, as some of the worst cases of abuse.According to the report, the former administration under the tripartite coalition spent an "enormous amount" in November-December 2008, "melting the fiscal reserve by a third" BNT said.Furthermore, the committee claimed that all of the spending was done secretly, without transparency, and that most of them could have, and should have been saved, especially in light of the impending crisis.Stanishev, now an MP, denied all the allegations, saying that the spending was done with money from the budget surplus. The ethnic Turk Movement of Rights and Freedoms, a junior partner in the former ruling coalition, also denied the report's claims.The discussion of the report will continue on April 23, with the committee's findings to be sent to the Prosecutor-General. Bulgarian prosecutors have already launched their own investigation into the alleged wrongdoing by the former cabinet.