Bulgaria waived of BGN 26 million fines due to the project for the expansion of the gas storage "Chiren", reveals an investigation by the "Anti-corruption fund“.
He explains more about the topic to "Hello, Bulgaria" on "New TV" attorney Denitsa Rukanova. “I have no practical, economic or legal explanation why the state does not seek a penalty stipulated in a contract, because lawyers know that additional damages can also be sought from non-fulfilment of such an important strategic object.
The penalty is one of the easiest things to look for, in the contract it is up to 10% of the total price. For the drilling part, it is 265 million. BGN, otherwise the project is for over 730 million
The goal of the project is to double the volume we are currently using. “The first irregularity is that the orders are announced as three pieces. And this is a case study that, according to all international practices, is implemented in its entirety," added the specialist and emphasized that when it is divided into parts, the price increases.
In her words, the scandal in the investigation of the “Anti-Corruption Fund” is that we currently have two out of three parts of the repository that are going to rust.
The internal auditor is the only one in the chain of all our control bodies responsible for our strategic security object that has been against irregularities. “One of them is the transition from vertical to inclined wells. Although more expensive, they are more productive. But it is cheaper for the contractors by about 90-100 million, she explained.
At the same time, the head of “Bulgartransgaz” is the current Minister of Energy, Vladimir Malinov. From the Ministry of Energy and “Bulgartransgaz” declined to comment at this stage.