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Sat, May 26 2012
Formula 1 follies
ROUND THE TABLE: The August 30 meeting that led to the Economy Ministry media statement that sparked controversy: Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, second from left, flanked by officials and local Formula 1 boss Roumen Petkov, in talks with the EABG representatives.
Photo: government.bg
It was a headline-grabbing foreign investment story, mainly for the wrong reasons, and it remains unclear whether it is over.
On the basis of a media statement by Bulgaria’s Economy Minister, there were excited reports – first by local media, later picked up by international wires – that Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG), which the ministry described as a state-owned holding group in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, with a sheikh Mohammed Abdul Jalil al-Blouki as its president, would be converting a site at an old military airfield into a track that would put Bulgaria on the Formula One circuit.
Then the story hit the crash barriers and went spinning, and it was unclear whether any amount of spin by Cabinet ministers and politicians could save it.
On September 3, Bulgarian daily Sega published a letter from EABG in which it pointed out it was not state-owned, its president was not a sheikh, it did not represent the government and Abu Dhabi; all that was certain was that the company was very unhappy and, according to the letter, would warn its partners never to invest in Bulgaria.
EABG representative Anwar Badwan came to Bulgaria to sort out what he by then was describing as a "misunderstanding" – days passed without it becoming clear who at the Economy Ministry was culpable for the inaccuracies in the media statement – and, reportedly, he changed the message about investing in Bulgaria
On track?
Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily Trud, quoting Badwan, said that there were plans for a whole "Formula City" to be built near the airfield site at Dobroslavtsi.
Badwan was quoted as saying that the company wanted to set up a year-round business at the site, including building luxury housing. According to Trud, he said that the company would be in talks with Wal-Mart and other United States retail chains to open shopping malls near the circuit.
Matters then took a bizarre twist when it emerged that two Bulgarian nationals in the US had e-mailed Badwan demanding enormous sums, respectively $94 million and 60 million euro, to "improve the atmosphere for conducting negotiations on financing and construction of the F1 circuit".
This drew the General Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime into the matter, and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that Bulgaria was referring the matter to the FBI, who would be asked to follow up the origin of the e-mails, said to be in Illinois.
Economy Minister Traicho Traikov told Trud that the scandal around the reports about the Formula One plan was a "storm in a teacup" and that what mattered was the fact that EABG were standing by their intention to work with the Bulgarian Government.
Burning rubber
At the centre of the story is Roumen Petkov, formerly interior minister in Sergei Stanishev’s socialist-led cabinet until Petkov stepped down amid controversy, and now the head of the organising committee for the construction of the circuit.
Petkov, aside from hitting out at his lineal successor Tsvetanov for supposedly trivialising the alleged e-mail extortion attempts (Tsvetanov reportedly described the Bulgarian duo as "people who use Facebook"), insisted that the Formula One project would cost the state no money.
"This is an invented scandal," Petkov said, darkly hinting at ulterior motives by saying that there were those who wanted the Formula One track built at Kremikovtsi, not Dobroslavtsi.
Bulgaria had never been closer to building a Formula One track, according to Petkov.
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, who had met the EABG representatives, stayed above the scandal.
"I met the representatives of the firm at the request of MP Roumen Petkov and the head of the [motor sports] federation [Bogdan Nikolov], who said that they had found an investor for the project. Any MP that asked for such a meeting, I would have agreed. Ask them why the owner was presented as a sheikh and the company as state-owned," Sega quoted Borissov as saying.
On September 8, Traikov appeared to take a harsher line about the matter, telling bTV in an interview that the investors had acted quite unfairly. He was in favour of any project that would get something done, but after that point, the investors would have to prove that they had the money and would invest in the project, he said.
A serious investor did not send such letters, Traikov said, referring to the letter published by Sega.
On the basis of a media statement by Bulgaria’s Economy Minister, there were excited reports – first by local media, later picked up by international wires – that Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG), which the ministry described as a state-owned holding group in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, with a sheikh Mohammed Abdul Jalil al-Blouki as its president, would be converting a site at an old military airfield into a track that would put Bulgaria on the Formula One circuit.
Then the story hit the crash barriers and went spinning, and it was unclear whether any amount of spin by Cabinet ministers and politicians could save it.
On September 3, Bulgarian daily Sega published a letter from EABG in which it pointed out it was not state-owned, its president was not a sheikh, it did not represent the government and Abu Dhabi; all that was certain was that the company was very unhappy and, according to the letter, would warn its partners never to invest in Bulgaria.
EABG representative Anwar Badwan came to Bulgaria to sort out what he by then was describing as a "misunderstanding" – days passed without it becoming clear who at the Economy Ministry was culpable for the inaccuracies in the media statement – and, reportedly, he changed the message about investing in Bulgaria
On track?
Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily Trud, quoting Badwan, said that there were plans for a whole "Formula City" to be built near the airfield site at Dobroslavtsi.
Badwan was quoted as saying that the company wanted to set up a year-round business at the site, including building luxury housing. According to Trud, he said that the company would be in talks with Wal-Mart and other United States retail chains to open shopping malls near the circuit.
Matters then took a bizarre twist when it emerged that two Bulgarian nationals in the US had e-mailed Badwan demanding enormous sums, respectively $94 million and 60 million euro, to "improve the atmosphere for conducting negotiations on financing and construction of the F1 circuit".
This drew the General Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime into the matter, and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that Bulgaria was referring the matter to the FBI, who would be asked to follow up the origin of the e-mails, said to be in Illinois.
Economy Minister Traicho Traikov told Trud that the scandal around the reports about the Formula One plan was a "storm in a teacup" and that what mattered was the fact that EABG were standing by their intention to work with the Bulgarian Government.
Burning rubber
At the centre of the story is Roumen Petkov, formerly interior minister in Sergei Stanishev’s socialist-led cabinet until Petkov stepped down amid controversy, and now the head of the organising committee for the construction of the circuit.
Petkov, aside from hitting out at his lineal successor Tsvetanov for supposedly trivialising the alleged e-mail extortion attempts (Tsvetanov reportedly described the Bulgarian duo as "people who use Facebook"), insisted that the Formula One project would cost the state no money.
"This is an invented scandal," Petkov said, darkly hinting at ulterior motives by saying that there were those who wanted the Formula One track built at Kremikovtsi, not Dobroslavtsi.
Bulgaria had never been closer to building a Formula One track, according to Petkov.
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, who had met the EABG representatives, stayed above the scandal.
"I met the representatives of the firm at the request of MP Roumen Petkov and the head of the [motor sports] federation [Bogdan Nikolov], who said that they had found an investor for the project. Any MP that asked for such a meeting, I would have agreed. Ask them why the owner was presented as a sheikh and the company as state-owned," Sega quoted Borissov as saying.
On September 8, Traikov appeared to take a harsher line about the matter, telling bTV in an interview that the investors had acted quite unfairly. He was in favour of any project that would get something done, but after that point, the investors would have to prove that they had the money and would invest in the project, he said.
A serious investor did not send such letters, Traikov said, referring to the letter published by Sega.
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Editorial: Formula for misunderstanding
As a general rule, negotiations about foreign investments tend to be protracted and sensitive, and sometimes not unrelated to other matters of foreign and economic relations.
Bulgaria's Formula 1 'fake sheikh' sting
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Winning formula?
Bulgaria's Cabinet hopes for new impetus in search for Formula One track investor
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Hi Jemma.. EABG bailed out (no F1 for BG).. it was all a big farce.. If you knew Raid Abu Hudra in person you would've known better that nothing he says or does can be taken seriously.. he is just a small time crook who found a safe haven at EABG. I heard that they fired him.. but again I am not sure.. Anyhow who cares :)
Any updates about the planned F1 facility in BG? I read somewhere else that EABG are still interested in sponsoring it.. I am not sure anymore :(
I know that duet Raid and Daad :) they once did a project for our company when they worked for BES. It was a total disaster but somehow they managed to sell it to the owners! I think nothing good can come out of this combination of incompetence, dishonesty and arrogance. Poor EABG, they used to be ok in the past, now you hear only bad news about them.
I totally agree with Richard. I mean you should meet the new group management team that Raid brought onboard from BES where he used to work. Especially this lady Daad Nassif! I mean man, she is an absolute imbecile. It is astonishing what being a loyal dog can do to your career from a “nobody” to a “Chief Operating Officer” (whatever that means). Some people told me that Raid and Daad are hitting it together so maybe this explains the mysterious attachment (though that woman is totally ugly on all scales but hey! Raid is not “John Travolta” himself, certainly [...]
Read the full comment not with that humongous ass he is towing around).
Well if this is true then EABG has made a very clever New Year resolution. Raid Abu Hudra and the small team of mercenaries he brought onboard the group did nothing but harm to the group business and reputation. I hope they can recover from this major setback as I think the owners are good and fair people and deserve better than this weasel Raid Abu Hudra. Happy New Year guys!
This is to inform the General Public that Mr. Raid Abu Hudra was working at EABG as a CEO and his services were terminated by the shareholders and now he is no longer working with us and has nothing to do with us. If anybody has any disputes related to that individual then please contact us within 15 days of publishing this notice after that we will not be responsible/liable for any kind of dealing/dispute with the above mentioned person by anybody.
I cant believe the amount of attention given to a small time crook such as Raid Abu Hudra. Cool down guys he is simply not worth it. There are more important things going on that need your attention. And Mr. "Point of View" Al Blouki will never come out or comment as he is as clueless as the rest of the clan.
Hi guys.. the issue was started by Raid Abu Hudra, he made the negotiations with mediator of the Bulgarians and his advisor Anwar Bedwan was coordinating with Roumen Petkov.
The F1 project was tabled day one of the negotiations in Abu Dhabi so it was not a "surprise" or an attempt to fool the "naive" UAE Company. Abu Hudra was the one who convinced Al Blouki to go there and sign the LOI so how come he is the one who is saying it was an entrapment?! The whole deal went bad when the press release portrayed Al [...]
Read the full comment Blouki as a "Sheik" which is taboo in countries like UAE and can lead to very bad consequences for Al Blouki family as it could be considered as a challenge to the authority of the real Sheiks of Abu Dhabi. This is why Abu Hudra was lying and running around like a headless chicken to deny it all and close the file. And for that poor performance I think he earned the title "Worst CEO of the Middle East 2010". What would be interesting is that we never heard from Al Blouki? I think he made a mistake by keeping quiet
Mark Holmes is the CEO Raid Abu Hudra. Seems he has nothing better to do :D
To Mr. mark holmes:
It is so obvious that you are one of the CEO Raid Abu Hudra beneficiaries (if not him in person!). I have read all those comments and trust me since I've known Raid Abu Hudra personally for more than 5 years now I can tell you that most of the comments are true. This man is a pathetic liar with no self esteem whatsoever. A brown-nose to whom who pays the highest, no morals, no values and certainly no brain capacity. He is just another parasite living of host’s blood. So please save us [...]
Read the full comment your lectures, or better, go to Mr. Raid Abu Hudra and give him a lecture or two about honesty and business ethics!
first most of theses commenters don't know or undestand what they have read they need to read all the artica'ls to know what is going on very simple they attaking the ceo and the company when it is very clear that Bulgarian represnttive are laying. how could an invesment company invest into somthing without being presented with the finanical plans or result just becase they are from the u.e.a dosn't meen they are dum we can ask for money and get it sound to me that CEO Mr.Raid Abu hudra cought them at there own game he must be a [...]
Read the full comment very smart person hats offf to him.
I think the CEO Raid Abu Hudra was busy humping his assistant and didn’t read well the invitation letter from the Bulgarian Prime Minister.. I hope she was worth the trouble.. hehehehehe
I finally got the truth about what was this story all about. In fact it is far deeper than just a media release mix-up. Mr. Anwar Badwan and Mr. Raid Abu Hudra conspired together to convince the investor EABG to finance the F1 project against a percentage of that financing value to be channelled to them by the project owners (the project is a guaranteed financial loss and no sane profit oriented private entity would invest in it). I mean a small percentage of 200 million Euros is a lot of money for two individuals. For their disappointment things went [...]
Read the full comment badly wrong and they couldn’t carry on with their original plot, which was purely a strike of good luck for the owners of EABG as they are now off the hook of actually investing in the F1.
Hey guys, this is the best way to close this subject! I found it posted on another site :)
I suggest that everyone reading this article should contact the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affair and write the following:
Please clarify the situation with the Company Emirates Associated Business Group - EABG and whether the company EABG were authorised to visit Bulgaria as an official delegate, meet with the Bulgarian Prime Minister and sign such a high level Agreement/LOI with the minister of economy.
Their email is: mofa@mofa.gov.ae
I think it was a miscalculation on behalf of the CEO Raid Abu Hudra thinking that he can introduce the EABG's owner to mega opportunities and thought that it would be ok to present the owner as royalty and the company as state-owned. This way he was able to secure an official reception in Bulgaria and a meeting with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, thus impressing his employer. I guess things took a different route. I believe that EABG has lost its credibility in the international market and they need to take drastic measures to recover from this major setback. [...]
Read the full comment
To the "Abu Dhabi Resident": you are either an employee of EABG or you are one of those who have private interests with them. Read your own silly words "..These guys from Bulgarian government just wanted to bribe Mohammed Al Blouki .." I mean you are either crazy or stupid.. Why the government of Bulgaria wants to bribe Mr. Al Blouki? To make him invest in Bulgaria? lol… you are one of the dumbest readers to land on this website. The story is simple: stupid owner + corrupted CEO = business blunders.
The information given by Bulgarian media is very confusing. EABG is well known and highly reputed private company in the UAE. These guys from Bulgarian government just wanted to bribe Mohammed Al Blouki and now nobody in the UAE will deal with Bulgaria. Shame on them.
Yeah I think the CEO Raid Abu Hudra letter tells it all. I mean even if the official press announcement had some inaccurate data in it, EABG CEO should have never acted in this silly way. I mean it was very unprofessional and stupid act on behalf of Mr. Raid Abu Hudra.
This turned into a big media circus now! It was revealed that the CEO of the company Emirates Associated Business Group Mr. Raid Abu Hudra falsely introduced the president of the company as a Sheikh and implied to the Bulgarian government representatives that the company is somehow state-owned. I think this CEO never thought his little lie would escalate this way.. Read his email to a local Bulgarian newspaper denying everything.. Very pathetic! We should stop beating ourselves for others' mistakes!
You have to laugh don't you, its a comedy of errors. These poor people have spent so much money and energy ensuring they own the land that its proposed to be built on that they are trying every trick to get it going.
Shame. Any chance of Disney opening up soon ? :o)