JUST as coalition talks were heating up, the Supreme Cassation Prosecution (SCP) sent a fax to the media announcing a criminal investigation of two officials from the outgoing Government – Foreign Minister Solomon Passi and Finance Minister Milen Velchev.
According to the fax, sent on July 19, the SCP was investigating whether there was enough evidence of espionage or a breach of trust to warrant a trial for the two ministers.
The SCP and the Military Regional Prosecution (MRP) were looking into a deal to construct a satellite communications network connecting the Foreign Ministry with Bulgarian embassies around the world, which Passi and the Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks had signed.
The prosecution based its inquiries on the publication on July 13 of an article in the Zemya daily, which is owned by former communist-era state security officer Dimitar Ivanov.
According to the article, authored by another former communist-state security officer, Velizar Enchev, the 10 million leva deal, which Passi signed in 2004, violated several laws.
Enchev charged that the deal had been granted without a public tender, and that the Foreign Ministry had opted to rent, instead of buy, the outdated equipment, which raised the price of the project five-fold.
The most worrying part of the deal, according to Enchev, was the fact that the encryption server and the communication centre was built in Israel and that the Israeli security service might have been able to monitor communications between the Foreign Ministry in Sofia and Bulgarian missions abroad.
Enchev also alleged that when importing equipment, Gilat had committed a customs violation in order to avoid paying import duties.
The publication charged that Israeli and Bulgarian customs officials knew of the breach, but Passi and Velchev chose to cover up the scandal in the run-up to the June 25 elections.
According to Enchev, Passi phoned a friend in Tel Aviv and asked him to stop the Israeli customs investigation. Velchev ordered the head of the Bulgarian Customs Agency Assen Assenov to also stop the investigation at home.
One day before informing the media about the investigation of Passi and Velchev, the SCP obtained information that the Foreign Ministry had never made any deal with an Israeli company, and only had dealings with the satellite communications company Transat, which is Bulgarian-owned. 
Transat, a subsidiary of the Petrol oil company, was established in 2002 to develop a highly reliable, nationwide communications infrastructure to satisfy the needs of state and private companies throughout Bulgaria.
According to its website, www.transat.bg, Transat JSC is the first company operating a VSAT network through an HUB station on Bulgarian territory.
Transat JSC offers VSAT networks for corporate business in areas of finance, retail, international companies and government.
Transat JSC provides high-performance networking and telephony between locations across wide geographical areas – Europe, North Africa, Asia and Middle East – without the need for terrestrial infrastructure.
The main partner of Transat in providing satellite equipment is the above-mentioned Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks, which is a leader in the production of VSAT equipment.
According to the same website, Transat has been approved by Borika debit card operators to construct a satellite communications network for its ATM machines and POS terminals.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the company won the deal at a public tender, as required by law, and it has been approved by security services.
In a written statement the Foreign Ministry said that the suggestion that the servicing terminal is abroad was false, and that in any case the satellite channels were used for relaying only non-classified information.
The ministry said that it had no connection to the procedures for importing equipment and could not comment on the possibility of customs violations. 
At a special briefing on July 20, Passi said that the ministry was co-operating with the prosecution. “We have provided them with all information they demanded,” he said. “We have nothing to hide.”
He said that part of the communication equipment was on the territory of the Foreign Ministry in Sofia, while the other part was in Bulgarian missions abroad. “I don't know anything about a communications centre in Israel,” Passi said. “Let those who can imagine it tell you more.”