My powers have been suspended until the ruling to the court. The court must rule within two weeks. That's what he said in "Face to Face" on bTV Andrey Gyurov, after yesterday the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Bank found incompatibility and terminated his powers as deputy governor of the BNB almost a year after he was elected, reports novini.bg. The reason is a decision of the anti-corruption commission from the end of June, according to which he cannot hold the position, since he was also a member of a party and a partner in a commercial company.
Gyurov specified that he will appeal the BNB's decision to the Supreme Administrative Court, filing the appeal next week, within the legal seven-day deadline.
The decision of the Management Board worries me because there is currently an appeal that has been admitted to the court and the appeal stops the act of the anti-corruption commission. It has not entered into force and has no legal effect, and the decision of the Management Board is based entirely on the anti-corruption commission's decision. In this sense, the decision of the Management Board is incorrect. There is no act that has entered into force and there is no evidence that I have been active, said the suspended deputy governor of the BNB.
The law must be quoted exhaustively. By law I cannot be a director of this company, and I never have been. Another thing that the law restricts is to carry out an activity. I have not carried out such activity, there is not a single proof of this. The decision of the Anti-corruption Commission and the decision of the Management Board say that Andrey Gyurov carried out activities. The court says there is no evidence of this. There is an ambiguous interpretation of the law by the anti-corruption commission, and the BNB Management Board accepts this opinion without seeing evidence and without answering the question of what this activity is. This is a wrong and expansive interpretation of the law, Andrey Gyurov commented.
He explained that he was involved in two non-profit associations before becoming deputy governor of the BNB.
One organized summer schools in economics. I think it's a worthy activity and I'm proud to have done it. The company operated from 2016 to 2020 and ceased operations in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. From 2020 until now, the company itself has no activity, I resigned in 2022, long before I became deputy governor of the BNB. The other non-profit association is a sports club that never existed. I also resigned from this club before becoming deputy manager, Gyurov pointed out.
He added that he has the relevant documents for the timely departure of the companies and there is no problem with the law.
This case is being monitored at the highest level in the European Commission and the European Central Bank, because the arbitrary dismissal of a member of the Central Bank's management violates the rules of the European Central Bank, announced the suspended deputy governor of the BNB, in response to question said that the case could become a problem for Bulgaria's accession to the Eurozone.
The BNB is interested in the quick resolution of this case, but this is the achievement of a legitimate goal with illegal means. I have no doubt that this decision will be overturned before an independent and transparent court, Andrey Gyurov also said.