Corruption in Bulgaria is ripe and is blatantly apparent to anyone with any sense. The main topic of conversation right now is the accusation of funds from the EU being sapped by many Bulgarian companies, no doubt with a mafia links.The current Government have set a ‘Parliamentary Commission of the Fight against Corruption’ to try and counteract the situation. If it is not resolved the EU have threatened to suspend all funds to Bulgaria.
The latest action by this Commission is to draw up a list of the top 100 beneficiary companies who have received the most funds from the EU. This was announced only yesterday. It was also stated that there would be a reassurance that there would be no action against the companies listed but they have to be publicly accountable for the funds.
There had already been at least ten violations of funds under the various programs of investment from EU. One violation that is currently being investigated were the EU funds that were assigned to developing the road Bulgarian road infrastructure.
It remains whether this is just a Bulgarian political publicity stunt as many people I talk to feel that the politician are just as much involved with the creaming of funds but they have to make a public stand against it.
If EU funds are suspended, to the vast majority of Bulgarians it won’t make a blind bit of difference; to the corrupted contingent of Bulgaria it will. So what do you think the best form of action is?
The latest action by this Commission is to draw up a list of the top 100 beneficiary companies who have received the most funds from the EU. This was announced only yesterday. It was also stated that there would be a reassurance that there would be no action against the companies listed but they have to be publicly accountable for the funds.
There had already been at least ten violations of funds under the various programs of investment from EU. One violation that is currently being investigated were the EU funds that were assigned to developing the road Bulgarian road infrastructure.
It remains whether this is just a Bulgarian political publicity stunt as many people I talk to feel that the politician are just as much involved with the creaming of funds but they have to make a public stand against it.
If EU funds are suspended, to the vast majority of Bulgarians it won’t make a blind bit of difference; to the corrupted contingent of Bulgaria it will. So what do you think the best form of action is?
If you deleted Bulgaria from your post and replaced it with Thailand I would not have noticed the difference.
ReplyDeleteTravelled to Bulgaria once, Sunny Beach, really loved it, great people, gorgeous ladies, that was back in 1996 and even then the Russian mafia had a very big presence at the resort.
You would not recognise Sunny Beach now, it is a towering concrete jungle. The only thing that hasn't changed is the beach and sea which still holds its grace.
ReplyDeleteI was in Sunny Beach this summer. This place is not Bulgaria anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as for the funds... I think it matters a lot for the people in Bulgaria. Half a billion euros! That's a lot of money. Especially in Bulgaria.
They started infrastructure projects to better Bulgaria which can now not be completed. I expect the opposition parties as well as Boiko's GERB to take action and try to get the current government to step down and call out elections. It could get that serious. This is the final straw I think. You don't just say you're going to battle corruption to your citizens and then lose over half a billion euros due to fraud and corruption.
Not like Boiko's any less corrupt/fraudulent.
Boiko (to those who don't knowhe is the Mayor of Sofia) is a popular figure but like you say more than suspect in terms of sleaze. therefore elections won't solve anything but just give another facade to the underground of corruption. Like
ReplyDeleteI said, to most Bulgarians things just are accepted and life goes on. 1/2 Billion Euros missing that was to be invested in mainly business and tourist projects is just benefitting the rich to become richer. It does not help the poor pensioners it is purely capitalist based fund creamed away by ex-communists.