Iliyana Yotova's candidacy for president is the "only possible and feasible" one in the current political situation. This was stated by the former Minister of Economy and Energy Rumen Ovcharov in the studio of “Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov“.
“If you ask me for my personal opinion, I can afford to say that Iliyana Yotova's candidacy is, without using too strong words, the only possible and feasible candidacy for me at the moment“, he pointed out.
According to Ovcharov, the claims that Yotova would be a "remake of Rumen Radev" can only be made by people who who do not know her. According to him, she has already made a request for a more consensual behavior of the presidential institution.
„She stated something extremely important for Bulgaria - a significantly more consensual position of the presidency regarding political problems in the country. Something that was not noticeable under Rumen Radev“, commented Ovcharov.
He expressed the expectation that her candidacy would receive support not only from „Progressive Bulgaria“ and the BSP, but also from other political and civil organizations. „I think it will unite many more political and non-political structures“, said the former minister.
Rumen Ovcharov also commented on the call by Regional Minister Ivan Shishkov to the MRF and the BSP to vacate their party headquarters. According to him, the actions of the ruling party are an attempt by „Progressive Bulgaria“ to demonstrate results on its stated priorities. „It is obvious that “Progressive Bulgaria“ must show some success in the main priorities it has declared. One of them is the fight against the oligarchic model of Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borisov“, said Ovcharov.
According to him, the BSP has turned out to be an indirect victim of this line due to its participation in the previous government and its poor election result. “The BSP gets involved with its exceptional result in the last elections and with its participation in the previous government of Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borisov. That's how it gets involved and that's how it bears the result“, he said.
The former energy minister also commented on the decision to station American transport planes in Bulgaria. According to him, there can be no talk of a change in the country's foreign policy orientation, since Bulgaria has no real alternative to its membership in the EU and NATO. “The country's foreign policy orientation is not subject to change, simply because there is nowhere else to turn. We will not "...the orientation is the same," he said.
Ovcharov recalled that American planes had been stationed at Sofia airport months earlier, without causing the same public reaction.
According to him, Rumen Radev did the right thing by informing the National Assembly and the planes were moved from the civilian part of Sofia airport. "Bulgaria was the only country in which military planes of a foreign country were located at a civilian airport," Ovcharov pointed out.
However, he believes that Bulgaria could have refused the US request, since there is no decision of the UN Security Council, NATO or the European Union to participate in a war against Iran.
“The simplest and clearest position was: “We are sorry, there is no reason for your planes to be here,“ as several other European countries have done,“ he said. he.
According to him, the government sought a balance, since Bulgaria already had disagreements with the EU on other issues and could not simultaneously enter into conflict with the United States.
Changes for the special manager of „Lukoil“
Ovcharov also commented on the legislative changes introduced by deputies from „Progressive Bulgaria“ after the Constitutional Court's decision on the powers of the special commercial manager.
The proposal explicitly provides for the addition of the activity „trade“ to the scope of the law, so that state supervision would also cover companies that do not produce or store petroleum products, but only sell them.
„These two companies are commercial companies. One sells aviation fuel, and the other - marine fuel. We are talking about „Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria“ and “Lukoil - Bulgaria Bunker“, explained Ovcharov.
According to him, the Constitutional Court's decision has removed them from the scope of the special manager regime, and the legal change would allow such managers to be appointed again. “I don't see anything special. I don't think the owner has any intention of regaining control of these companies right now,“ he added.
Rumen Ovcharov also commented on the 15-month freeze on payments under the contract with the Turkish company “Botaş“. He did not commit to a definitive forecast as to whether the deadline is related to the planned cessation of trade in Russian natural gas in the EU.
Regarding the financial condition of “Bulgargaz“, Ovcharov stated that the company has practically closed down and has a negative asset value.
At the end of the conversation, Ovcharov defended the possibility of resuming the “Belene“ NPP project. According to him, Ukrainian assistance is not necessary, and finding European financing would be difficult, but not impossible. “The project is not only possible, but it is the best possible for implementation in Bulgaria,“ he stated.