Isn’t it too paradoxical that Rumen Spetsov is able to manage Lukoil with around 4 newly appointed officials when he holds the position of special administrator? Meanwhile, the current administrator, Evgeni Simeonov, appointed by Minister Aleksandar Pulev, is trying to cope with his responsibilities with around 25 new people appointed to key positions. That is six times more! The question is WHY?! Is this incompetence or deliberate intent?
It looks like SELF-SERVING PLANNING. The transparent and lawful oversight that Minister Pulev spoke about when presenting Evgeni as special administrator is being thrown in the bin, while PERSONAL and NEPOTISTIC interests are coming to the fore, as always happens in state-controlled enterprises.
As Milton Friedman used to say, “If you put the government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there will be a shortage of sand.” The appointment of Angelina Borisova is of particular interest. She has taken herself so seriously that she now even leads the operational meetings at Lukoil when Evgeni is absent—and he is absent far too often, having decided to use his moment in the spotlight to build and consume popularity rather than to actually MANAGE in the true sense of the word. Isn’t Angelina a former secretary to one minister or another?!
An increasingly entrenched and profoundly vulgar trend is being observed in Bulgaria: people who have fallen out of legitimate public opportunities are pushing women close to them upward, placing them in the state administration and political power as proxies for advancing their personal financial interests.
Usually, SUCH DECORATION is appointed to PR positions, which heavily devalues this profession and the otherwise necessary expertise it entails. Some of these instrumentalized figures are also promoted as ADVISERS, to make it sound more complicated and less frivolous. For example, the aforementioned Angelina Borisova is an adviser on corporate strategies and communications. It is not a matter of her being a PR woman or anything of the sort, which would sound rather simplistic for a long-term proxy in the energy sector. The mechanism of THE PRODUCTION OF INFLUENCE is interesting; ultimately, it has financial dimensions, schemes for siphoning off funds, entangling the refinery in personal interests, and so on.
As they say, this is their moment: the sanctions require so-called external oversight to be provided, and the “pirates” in power are taking maximum advantage of it. The state must ensure oversight so as not to allow the operation of an enterprise linked to the country’s energy security to be blocked.
Usually, however, the enterprise is overrun by the same people who overrun all state structures of strategic importance, so that funds can be generated for companies close to those in power.
I return to Pulev, who identified the current “power” at Lukoil. The deputy he chose says enough about him—his style, way of life, decorative cover for specific desires, and obvious inability to distinguish business necessities from entertainment.
The big fashion of using a provocative female screen to divert attention in a misleading direction and conceal dependencies is already becoming tiresome. Power is woven from people who can be controlled through some of their weaknesses. As they say, if they did not have those weaknesses, they would not be there themselves.