Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
In Bulgaria, entering politics is like buying a lottery ticket - a sure path to the first million. Getting rich is guaranteed, no matter where the party places its person - mayor of a municipality, MP, member of a regulator, board of a state holding/company, hospital management.
The property declarations submitted by people from the upper echelon outline a wealthy class at the top of the state. The management elite may be poor in terms of public trust, but its material condition is more than good. Power not only gives prestige and influence, but also guarantees a comfortable life.
Lack of real control
There are no ideals, but gossip as much as you want, Aleko Konstantinov would probably have written 128 years after “Different people, different ideals”. The feeling of injustice in Bulgaria is exacerbated by chronic inequality and the lack of real control over the elite, social tension caused by water scarcity and problems in health services, impunity and lawlessness, which takes victims. But at the top of the pyramid, comfort is guaranteed - along with invulnerability.
Of course, the remuneration must be high, since it is based on the idea that when politicians, magistrates and senior officials receive good legal salaries, they have no incentive to seek “hidden“ income. But who in Bulgaria is convinced that the "high-ups" deserve them, given the systematically poor assessments of their benefits to society? In the "Transparency International" report for 2024, Bulgaria is second to last in the EU, ahead only of Hungary due to "long-term facade efforts and legislative changes in the service of kleptocratic circles, under the slogan of introducing European norms."
In July this year, the European Commission noted a stalled judicial reform and a lack of progress in establishing the rule of law in Bulgaria. Among its other recommendations, the EC drew attention to “integrity among senior executive positions, taking into account European standards, and in particular ensuring that clear integrity standards for the government are in place, as well as an appropriate mechanism for imposing sanctions”.
"They" choose them, "they" keep them
Formally, politicians, senior magistrates and high-ranking officials are required to declare property and financial assets. But in reality, no institution prevents them from keeping part of their wealth “in the shadows” - in offshore accounts, foreign companies and real estate abroad. Control bodies such as the State Agency for National Security and the National Revenue Agency (NAA) can always provide this missing information in property declarations.
But their leadership, as well as that of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), are not independent - they are a political choice of the ruling majority. The prosecutor's office is also burdened with political dependencies.
Now let's imagine how someone who wants to file a report about violations and does not have to be anonymous, as provided for by the Law on the Protection of Persons Filing Reports or Publicly Disclosing Information about Violations, goes to one of these institutions with revelations about enrichment through power. If they are directed against "our" politicians who elected their leaders, the whistleblower himself is threatened with political revenge.
But the ACC has not rushed to conduct inspections or carry out selective control over the data from property declarations. The Court of Auditors did not have such a practice either. Those loyal to the authorities in the institutions blindly believe what is declared by the functionaries of the authorities.
Illegal income and corruption
Thus, every fight against corruption - except for the commissioned one, which is a one hundred percent self-dealing, is doomed. Because instead of an arbitrator, the politicians (themselves) created an instrument for repression. President Rumen Radev, who in his first term supported the thesis that the accounts of politicians abroad - in offshore companies, as well as properties in the names of proxy persons - should be disclosed, subsequently removed it from his narrative.
The big topic of illegal income flowing out of Bulgaria is taboo for politicians. It was not voiced in the debates on the Law on Prevention and Establishment of Conflict of Interest. The MPs were focused on the separation of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the election of leaders of the two committees, but not on deepening the checks by the competent authorities on the substance of the declarations, nor on their new, more convenient format, since they are now difficult to analyze.
The Anti-Corruption Act has omitted the specific listing of offshore jurisdictions as a category that is mandatory for declaration. Art. 51 describes the assets to be declared - at first glance, the 16 points seem exhaustive, especially since “the declaration is for property and interests in the country and abroad”. However, offshore accounts are not among the listed money in bank accounts, receivables, real estate, investments and pension funds, securities, shares in companies and cryptocurrencies.
It is difficult to believe the information in the declarations submitted to the CPC. In reality, the elite may be even wealthier - or they may not be. If it so wishes, the Commission has sufficient powers to establish the real assets of every politician and high-ranking official.
A convenient screen
But first, the parliament must approve its new three-member leadership, for which four candidates applied and were already heard by the Nomination Commission. Two of them are the director and deputy director of the "Anti-Corruption" directorate at the CPC - Stoyan Petkov and Petar Koev. In the nearly 6-hour hearing, none of the four candidates touched on the topic of asset declarations and their formality. But no one from the commission, which included representatives of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Bar Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Ombudsman, and the Court of Auditors, asked them.
Thus, declarations of assets and interests will continue to conceal the truth about the wealth of those in power - and instead of a tool for integrity, they will remain a convenient screen.