The names announced by Bulgaria's Economy Ministry as the five appointees to the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) board of directors on January 20 came as no surprise. So predictable was the outcome that one opposition MP had "guessed" four of the names almost a month earlier.

As Yordan Kostadinov from the Bulgarian New Democracy (BND) parliamentary group had predicted, the board will feature Deputy Economy Minister Galina Tosheva, who was appointed interim chief executive of BEH in September 2008; state-owned gas distributor Bulgargaz board member Dimitar Dimitrov; former general secretary of the Finance Ministry Tencho Popov; and the executive director of the state-owned nuclear waste storage company Boris Pekov. The only one that Kostadinov, a former executive director of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant, missed is Dimitar Gogov, the Bulgargaz chief executive.

Even there, the switch came at the last second and was prompted by the gas crisis in January, but it did not change the trend of appointing politically-expedient candidates, Kostadinov told reporters.

The allegations of political bias are not new. From the moment that the Cabinet announced its intention to set up the energy holding, opposition parties have accused the Government of playing political games with the country's energy sector.

The Economy Ministry has consistently rejected the claims, saying that the goal was to create a company that would have the resources to undertake big projects, such as the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant and the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, as well as streamline the energy sector and cut costs.

The leading criterion in choosing the five members of the board was the candidates' vision for BEH's development and achieving the goals the Cabinet set out in its energy sector strategy to 2030, adopted in 2008, the Economy Ministry said in its statement.

The choice was apolitical because candidates were required not to hold executive positions in any political party, the ministry said. The choice was made from among 23 candidates, of whom 18 were allowed to the interview stage, the ministry said.

Despite the ministry's protestations, newspapers speculated that three appointments - Tosheva, Dimitrov and Gogov - were dictated by the Socialists, the senior partner in the three-way ruling coalition, while the National Movement for Stability and Progress was behind the appointment of Popov.

The concern is not misplaced, as with assets worth nine billion leva and annual sales of four billion, BEH is Bulgaria's second-largest company, while its payroll of about 22 000 makes it the biggest corporate employer in the country.

BEH was established in September, when the Economy Ministry changed the name of Bulgargaz Holding to Bulgarian Energy Holding and transferred stakes in four companies to it - mining conglomerate Mini Maritza Iztok, thermal power station Maritza Iztok 2, nuclear power plant Kozloduy and power grid operator NEK. The holding company already had three subsidiaries - Bulgargaz, transit firm Bulgartransgaz and telecoms firm Bulgartel.

Through NEK and Bulgargaz, the holding would hold majority stakes in the future nuclear power plant at Belene and several big pipeline projects, including Bourgas-Alexandroupolis and the Nabucco and South Stream gas pipelines.