Media publications claiming that Dimitar Glavchev may be in a potential conflict of interest in connection with audits of the National Audit Office commissioned by the National Assembly are speculative and are not based on legally established facts. A conflict of interest is proven only through administrative and procedural procedures and anything else is an insinuation, the Chamber announced.
They remind that according to the law, any person holding a public office can recuse himself and avoid a presumption of a conflict of interest.
Although there are no legal grounds for a conflict of interest, in connection with the speculative comments that have arisen and in order to guarantee maximum objectivity and impartiality, the Chairman of the Court of Accounts will recuse himself in writing from all actions and decisions on audits relating to the period during which he was appointed Acting Prime Minister by presidential decree on the basis of Art. 99, paragraph 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria – from April 9 to August 27, 2024 and from August 27, 2024 to January 16, 2025. For the period when he was acting Prime Minister and which is one sixth of the entire period of the assigned audits, Dimitar Glavchev will reassign the functions of Deputy Chairman of the Court of Accounts.
On July 2, 2026, the parliament assigned the Court of Accounts to conduct three audits on the management of public finances - in the social sphere, the Ministry of Finance and the “Road Infrastructure“ Agency; (API).
The audit of social payments from the budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the budget of the state social security in the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) is for the period from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2026.
The audit of public finances in the Ministry of Finance is for the period from January 1, 2020 to May 31, 2026. For the same period are the audits of the financial management of property, commitments undertaken, activities performed and reported expenses and of the procedures for awarding public procurement of RIA.
The decisions of the National Assembly, based on Art. 86, para. 2 of the Constitution, have binding force for all state bodies, organizations and citizens. Given the aforementioned provision and pursuant to Art. 38, para. 2 of the LSP, audits of the decisions of the National Assembly are assigned only by orders of the Chairman of the Court of Accounts. In this particular case, the Chairman of the Court of Accounts acts in conditions of “bound competence“ – i.e. he has no right of discretion, but is obliged to implement the decisions of the legislative body and the LSP.
The fact that the Chairman of the Court of Accounts Dimitar Glavchev held the position of Acting Prime Minister of Bulgaria during part of the audited periods does not automatically lead to a conclusion of the presence of a conflict of interest. When assigning the audits, in the present case, the requirements of the law were strictly observed, and the prerequisites for a conflict of interest were not present. The order issued by Dimitar Glavchev for the three audits assigned based on a decision of the National Assembly is a matter of principle, the Court of Accounts emphasizes.
We recall that the parliament unanimously adopted the decision for the Court of Accounts to conduct the audits, only regarding the audit of the implementation of public finances in the Ministry of Finance, there was one abstention.