Protests Sweep Bulgaria As Government Collapses Amid Chaos

[Fire Walk With Me]

http://www.policymic.com/articles/27094/protests-sweep-bulgaria-as-government-collapses-amid-chaos

The Bulgarian government was officially dissolved on Wednesday with the resignation of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov as thousands took to the street to protest against high electricity bills and declining living standards. The country, which joined the EU in 2001, remains the poorest member of the union after a long and troubled transition to capitalism.

The first casualty of the on-going crisis became Bulgarian finance minister Simeon Djankov — a well-respected former World Bank official who undertook painful economic reforms and austerity measures. Djankov stepped down on Tuesday in the middle of escalating protests in the capital of Sofia where people with signs that read "Mafia" and "Bring Down the Monopolies" were rallying against lack of transparency and monopolistic practices in the energy sector.

As the nationwide protest steadily turned against "Everything and Everyone," violent clashes with the police errupted leaving at least 25 injured in Sofia which increased the pressure on Borisov's leadership three months before the official end of his term.

Borisov, known for his hard-line can-do style, has successfully carried out ambitious infrastructure projects and EU programs. However, rising unemployment and soaring living costs have put millions of Bulgarians on the brink of poverty in a country where the average monthly salary continues to be less than 400 euros a month.

(More at the link.)

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Wow....they are destroying the economy of all of Europe, sounds like.

[starroute]

2. Do "well-respected" and "painful economic reforms" belong in the same sentence?

There seems to be some serious double-talk going on in this account.

As another example, the statement that "people with signs that read 'Mafia' and 'Bring Down the Monopolies' were rallying against lack of transparency and monopolistic practices in the energy sector" appears to suggest that "Mafia" was merely a handy insult. In fact, the Bulgarians are angry about actual Mafia influence -- as revealed by the diplomatic cables released by Bradley Manning.

http://www.climatesceptics.org/europe/bulgaria/belene/wikileaks-russian-blackmail-and-energy-mafia-surround-russian-energy-projects

Bulgaria’s energy sector is non-transparent, corrupt and connected to individuals with ties to organized crime, American diplomats believe [06SOFIA1691]. In this scandalous cable, three names are mentioned as key players in Bulgaria's so-called "energy mafia" - Bogomil Manchev from Risk Engineering, Krassimir Georgiev from Frontier and Hristo Kovachki.

“The resources in Belene are so huge that all of the competing energy and political lobbies will be able to get a piece of the pie.” Firms close to the mainly ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms and its leader Ahmed Dogan, which controls the Environmental Ministry responsible for issuing permits, also have the green light to participate, the cable’s author, Alexander Karagiannis writes.

The British daily Guardian published in December two cables from Ambassador McEldowney [09SOFIA69] [09SOFIA363], stressing on the staggering problems with the Belene project - delays, financing woes, non-transparent horse-trading and side deals, Russian influence, middle-man rent seeking, and the interests of well-connected politicians and energy oligarchs.

The Guardian editing, however, had eliminated an important part of the text, explaining how the management of the National Electric Company (NEC) and its on-site construction manager, ignored environmental, safety, and quality assurance concerns and illegally cancelled several "stop work orders" issued at the site because of safety violations. It did not prepare a Quality Assurance (QA) Program Plan for the temporary structures, and instead asked the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (RDPW) to issue the approvals - which they subsequently did without oversight or proper technical documentation.