Sat, Feb 11 2012

PM: We asked for the EC energy portfolio because the President said so

Wed, Oct 07 2009 18:12 CET

byPetar Kostadinov

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PM: We asked for the EC energy portfolio because the President said so

President Georgi Purvanov, left, and Prime Minister Boiko Borissov

Photo: Anelia Nikolova

Prime Minister Boiko Borissov nominated Foreign Minister Roumyana Zheleva to be European Energy Commissioner out of respect for President Georgi Purvanov, Borissov was quoted by Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily as saying on October 7 2009.

Borissov personally preferred Bulgaria's representative at the European Commission to take the regional development portfolio. The reality, however, was that Zheleva had a better chance of getting the enlargement portfolio.

The energy portfolio was on the list simply because Purvanov had asked for this, Borissov said, adding that he respected the will of the President.

Borissov's words came a day after an EC representative told Dnevnik that Bulgaria had no chance of getting the energy portfolio. First, because other countries such as France, The Netherlands and Poland were lobbying for it, and second, because Bulgaria's energy policy led by both Purvanov and the former socialist-dominated coalition government had tied Bulgaria to a number of Russian driven energy projects.

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