Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev reacted to calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Roumen Petkov not by sacking him, but by temporarily dismissing his number two, the ministry’s chief secretary Valentin Petrov. This was decided at an April 1 session of the executive bureau of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the senior partner in the ruling coalition.
Stanishev, who is also BSP leader, told reporters that Petkov will have to prepare a report on the ministry’s work for the past 18 years. The PM gave Petkov 10 days to present the most elaborate report ever done in the ministry’s history. As for why Petrov was temporary dismissed, even though Petkov has on several occasions backed him in public, Stanishev said: “Petrov will be temporary dismissed so that he does not hinder the investigation that the State Agency for National Security (SANS) has launched within the ministry.” SANS was asked by the Prosecutor’s Office to probe several cases of information leaks from the ministry.
The first happened on March 21, when Bulgarian media received anonymous records of phone calls where Ivan Ivanov, deputy head of the ministry’s chief directorate for combating organised crime (CDCOC), discussed ongoing investigations. The records were part of the ministry’s investigation into Ivanov, who was arrested on March 18. SANS will also investigate Iliya Iliev, the former chief secretary of the ministry, arrested on March 25 and accused of taking a CD with classified information when he resigned in December. The investigation will also check who disclosed the news that controversial businessman Alexei Petrov was a secret agent of the ministry. His name appeared after former CDCOC head Vanyo Tanov told Parliament that Petrov had arranged a meeting between Petkov and controversial businessmen Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov in 2006. Tanov said that at the time of the meeting, Galev and Hristov were the targets of a police investigation. Petkov later confirmed Tanov’s words, but accused him of blowing Alexei Petrov’s cover as a secret collaborator of the ministry.
On March 28, EC president Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters, after meeting Stanishev, that there was no place for corruption and organised crime in the European Union. Barroso came to Bulgaria two weeks after the European Anti-Fraud Office said it was not satisfied with the information Interior Ministry was sending. It referred to EU funds embezzlement, which led to the EC freezing funds on all EU pre-accession programmes.
Stanishev’s decision to keep Petkov on board could cost the three ruling parties dearly in next year’s parliamentary elections, a number of political analysts were quoted as saying in Bulgarian-language media. Stanishev has received the formal support of the other two parties in the ruling coalition – National Movement for Stability and Progress, which privately has expressed its misgivings, and Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Another challenge for Stanishev is SANS’ investigation, the agency’s first real test. Formed on January 1 2008, SANS is entirely Stanishev’s brainchild and its main goal is to fight organised crime and corruption at the top level.
