Ivaylo Mirchev Asks What Radev Promised Erdogan to Freeze Botas Contract.

MP Ivaylo Mirchev published a statement on Facebook hours after Rumen Radev’s meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He asked what the Bulgarian prime minister had promised the Turkish president in order for Ankara to agree to freeze the Botas agreement for 15 months.

After the meeting, Bulgargaz and Botas signed a protocol freezing the contract between the two companies for 15 months. During this period, the Bulgarian side will pay only for the capacity it uses, under improved conditions, the Council of Ministers said.

For years, they convinced us that this contract was beneficial for Bulgaria. ‘Experts’ from ‘Progressive Bulgaria’ claimed it had been signed under extremely good conditions for the country. If the terms are so favourable, why is Bulgaria agreeing for the contract to be frozen? Mirchev wrote.

According to him, the contract, signed by the caretaker government for a period of 13 years, creates commitments worth billions of leva but has no clear economic rationale for Bulgaria.

What did Radev promise Turkey for Erdogan to agree to this freeze — the Black Sea motorway, the refinery in Burgas, DPS, or some concession or another?

Mirchev claims that the accumulated bill for the country has already exceeded BGN 1 billion. According to him, it was clear from the very beginning that the contract was not only harmful, but also violated Bulgaria’s interests and was leading to huge losses.

The question now is different: at what price is this happening?