With 157 votes "for", 1 "against" and 21 "abstains", the parliament adopted at first reading amendments to the Law on the Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Oil and Petroleum Products.
The amendments submitted by "Progressive Bulgaria" limit the powers of the special manager of the "Lukoil" group in Bulgaria, by strengthening state control over his activities, informs the Bulgarian National Radio.
The possibility of judicial control over disposition transactions affecting the ownership of enterprises is introduced. Until now, they were unappealable.
The Special Commercial Manager will be obliged to report every month to the Minister of Economy, Investments and Industry.
One of the sponsors of the bill, Stefan Belchev from the Bulgarian People's Party, pointed out:
"The expected results are protection of the budget, transparency, as well as legal certainty. The risks of claims for compensation from affected enterprises due to possible bad practices on the part of the Special Commercial Manager are limited. The introduction of judicial control minimizes the risks of abuse and protects the state and all of us as taxpayers".
The opposition recalled that the current bill became known for being adopted in 29 seconds by the Energy Committee, headed by Pavela Mitova in the last parliament. And in order to avoid the risks of hasty legislation, although they approve the accountability, they insisted on an opinion from the Ministry of Finance due to the danger of legal claims against Bulgaria.
Martin Dimitrov from the State Budget:
"There is indeed a need for much better accountability on the part of the so-called special manager. However, there is another topic that I want to draw your attention to. The specific moment is when there is public information about possible arbitration claims against Bulgaria. That is why I want a representative of the Ministry of Finance to come and tell us on this topic that Bulgaria's position is not worsened by this bill, because we must always be in defense of the Bulgarian state."
A representative of the Ministry of Finance never appeared in the plenary hall, but from "Vazrazhdane" have declared themselves for an even more radical change.
Dimo Drenchev:
"Let it not turn out that by adopting this law, Bulgaria is actually admitting its mistake. It admits that the previous one was unconstitutional and to make it easier for "Litasko" to be sentenced for 3 billion euros. Moreover, the very figure of the special manager must be removed and we will submit such proposals to make this happen," said Dimo Drenchev from "Vazrazhdane".
The deadline for submitting proposals before the second reading was reduced to 5 days.