The Stara Zagora Administrative Court has suspended the preliminary enforcement of the order from the director of the Regional Directorates for Environment and Water – Stara Zagora for the temporary cessation of activities of “Brikel” EAD – Galabovo.
Throughout today, seals from the closed steam generators are expected to be removed by employees of the environmental inspectorate, as reported to “Za Istinata” by its director, Diyanа Iskreva.
According to Judge Irena Yankova, the requests formulated in the company’s complaint fall under the provisions of Article 166, Paragraph 2 of the Administrative Procedure Code, which states that
preliminary enforcement may cause significant or irreparable damage to the company.
In the ruling on the case (No. 514/02.08.22), we read that
“Brikel” EAD is part of the critical infrastructure of the Republic of Bulgaria as defined by section 29(a) of §1 of the Additional Provisions of the Energy Act. The provision of Article 69 of the Energy Act stipulates and requires energy companies to conduct their activities in the interest of the public and individual customers, ensuring the security of supply, including the protection of facilities representing critical infrastructure in the energy sector, the continuity and quality of electricity and heating energy, and natural gas, the efficient use of fuels and energy, and the preservation of the environment, life, health, and property of citizens.
The other key argument for overturning the preliminary enforcement of the order from the director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) is that the company would suffer significant property damages if the operation of the installation is halted, and the 1,254 workers in the region would be left without jobs and income.
The mayor of the municipality, Nikolai Tonev, is on leave and declined to comment on the situation at “Brikel” to our media outlet “Za Istinata,” which is changing dynamically.
Thus, the company will effectively continue to operate until the court decides whether it is indeed polluting the environment, and this process could take years.
Ultimately, it may not be closed if, due to corrupt officials at RIEW and the Ministry of Environment and Waters (MOEW), it turns out that insufficient valid evidence has been collected for systematic exceedance of harmful emissions in the atmospheric air, discharged from the chimneys of the oldest thermal power plant in Bulgaria.
Shortly before leaving “Dundukov” 1, former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov requested information from the State Agency for National Security (DANS) regarding who the true owner of “Brikel” is. However, he will not receive it. Even if he had remained in power, the agencies would hardly have rushed to collect this information. But even without it, it is clear to everyone that one of the major oligarchs in the energy sector enjoys special protection from the state, a fact Kiril Petkov publicly stated.
It is certain that a survey among the residents of Galabovo would show that none of them associate the ownership of the plant, which has been polluting their air for decades, with the name of Roy Kennedy—a 71-year-old citizen from the UK who owns 100 percent of the capital of “Brikel” EAD through his company “Bakar Limited.” Vice Prime Minister Borislav Sandov also did not have the time to arrange a meeting in London with Roy Kennedy, if such a meeting was even possible. Meanwhile, engineer Yanilin Pavlov—the executive director and a board member of the Galabovo energy company—admitted that he does not know its owner.
It is strange then who appointed him to represent “Brikel” and who exercises control over the management of the capital and operations of the company. Perhaps citizen Kennedy has transferred these functions to consultant Hristo Kovachki?
By the way, Kovachki himself has never publicly denied his ownership of the coal companies associated with his name. Furthermore, a new report from “Greenpeace Bulgaria” titled “The Eight Circles of Kovachki’s Coal Empire: The Elephant in the Room of Bulgaria’s Energy Transition” reveals corrupt practices in our energy sector.
In the “Coal Empire of Kovachki,” according to the non-governmental organization, there are:
- Coal mines burdened with financial debts
- Thermal power plants in deplorable technical condition
- Intermediaries draining the public company “Toplofikatsiya Sofia”
- A trader of greenhouse gas emission quotas
- A verifier of greenhouse gas emissions
- A pension fund invested in heating plants
- An insurance company—“the state’s favorite”
- A lobbyist for a “green” future
The most concerning fact for the environmental organization is that a significant portion of the money from tens of thousands of workers who are insured in the oligarch’s pension insurance company is being inappropriately invested in the coal industry, which has no future. Additionally, large state companies like “Mini Maritsa Iztok” are insured in the shareholder company “OZK-Insurance,” commented Meglena Antonova from “Greenpeace” in an interview with “Za Istinata” (For the truth).
Recently, the administrative court in Stara Zagora rejected the organization’s complaint against the latest integrated permit for “Brikel” EAD,
issued by the Executive Environment Agency (IEA), disregarding the request for an expert assessment. According to the court, the permit, which allows for the burning of biomass and oil shales alongside coal, does not present any issues. However, according to Antonova, the plant cannot meet the stricter emission levels outlined in the permit because the installation technically does not allow for it, and a second desulfurization unit could be constructed no earlier than 2024-2025.
The visit of former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and former Minister of Environment Borislav Sandov to “Brikel” revealed that the automatic station was placed in the most unsuitable location at the plant. At that time, sulfur dioxide levels were recorded at 15 times above allowable limits, and Kiril Petkov confirmed our suspicions that the controlling authorities, represented by the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW), do monitor and impose sanctions on the plant when necessary, but their acts are overturned in court, and they do not appeal them to a higher instance. Thus, while they seemingly fulfill their legal obligations, the oligarch’s plant continues to pollute the air in Galabovo without paying fines.
Experts also point out the significant fact that if the thermal power plant (TPP) is loaded at 70% instead of 20%, the levels of harmful emissions will be considerably higher. But even the children in Galabovo know that when an inspection by the environmental inspectorate is imminent at “Brikel,” the plant is aware of it the day before and reduces its output.
With this obviously reduced oversight, there is no one to guarantee the public that, alongside coal, biomass and oil shales, waste is not also being burned at the plant, even though they do not appear in the integrated permit.
Last but not least is the financial condition of “Brikel” and the other companies within the oligarch’s coal empire.
A request for information made by Vladislav Panev—a deputy from “Democratic Bulgaria”—and provided by Finance Minister Asen Vassilev in April this year shows that they owe a total of 166 million leva to both pillars of the pension system—the state and private. At the same time, in the pension insurance company “Toplina” owned by Hristo Kovachki, shares worth 10 million leva have been accumulated, according to the report from “Greenpeace Bulgaria.” According to this report, the total amount of unpaid debts of the “Kovachki” coal empire to the budget and the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) has exceeded 330 million leva by the end of 2020.
“Brikel” EAD also has a loan of 17,338,558 euros. The pledged creditor for this loan is “Eco Analysis” EOOD—100% owned by Sava Panayotis from Cyprus and his company “Douan Limited,” registered in the UK.
Given this factual situation of the Galabovo company, it is interesting to consider where Roy Kennedy, or rather consultant Hristo Kovachki, will find funds for the modernization of the plant in Galabovo. It is apparent that he is hoping for resources from the “green deal,” and perhaps other financial streams, such as the funds allocated for the so-called “cold reserve,” which companies owned by the oligarch received from the state alongside Ahmed Dogan and the state-owned TPP “Maritsa East 2.” Or similar to the 35 million leva awarded to “Brikel” by the Supreme Administrative Court, which the state was mandated to pay due to the company incurring damages from being allocated fewer than the necessary greenhouse quotas for the period 2010-2011.
In a country like Bulgaria, oligarchs are allowed everything, including having hundreds of millions in debts forgiven.
In June 2021, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Kornelia Ninova, wrote on her Facebook profile: “I ask the acting Minister of Finance if the information regarding the forgiveness of debts for companies owned by Hristo Kovachki is true? Is there a state that can compel him to pay the workers? Is it true that they were pressured to sign that they received the full amount, while they were only paid part of it?” At that time, the BSP was in an election campaign, and after Ninova became Minister of Economy, she ceased to show interest in these issues, instead of finding the answers and communicating them to the citizens.
Now we are once again in an election situation. And how long will we continue like this?
