Last month it was revealed, that the daughter and the wife of the responsible Bulgarian minister at the time were amongst the top-recipients of EU farmsubsidies. Subsidies that were administrated by the very same minister. €700.000 to the daughter and €1,5 million to the company of the wife, according to Bulgarian newspapers Trud and 24 Casa. The public prosecutor is looking into the case, and also DG Agri is said to have taken a closer look. According to Bulgarian media, all links below.
“In Bulgaria, the news did not surprise anyone. This tradition of “absorption” of EU funds is long,” was the observation in an article in the Bulgarian weekly Capital shortly afterwards.
After the revelation in the daily newspapers Trud and 24 Hours, the news about the prosecutors investigation, the weekly Capital goes in-depth with the system of “absorbing” EU money and analyses the legislation to prevent conflict of interest.
But Bulgarian journalists are up against strong forces with such questions. Just read this little quote with the debated ex-minister (from Capital/24 Hours):
“Journalist: Is it ethical that the company of your wife and daughter make projects related to agriculture, while you’re in this position?
Dimiter Peytchev: And is it ethical for you to receive a salary?
Journalist: Yes, for work I have done, but not for one of my relatives.
Dimitar Peytchev: Well I do my job. There are European criteria which all must comply with. ”
The article in Capital then points at all the criteria that are still problematic and should be addressed.
That’s exactly the role, journalism should play: Public money? Scrutinize the use of it. Publish your findings. Let the relevant bodies take the next steps. And keep an eye on further developments.
But when journalists salaries are comparably low, and when even scandalous stories with a maximum of alleged conflict of interest do not surprise any of your readers it is a tough job to be a journalist.
This is why I dedicate this particular blog post to the Bulgarian colleagues, who keep going and keep tracking wrongdoings and keep working for the journalistic ideals.
Chapeau !
(As they say in Belgium).
For the farmsubsidy stories, Bulgarian colleagues participated in the European network of colleagues scrutinizing the data, that now are publicly available. Read about the working meeting of Farmsubsidye.org a few days after the data were published on April 30th 2010.
May 5th, Trud, Bulgaria, 1,5 million EU farmsubsidies to daughter of a former Deputy Minister
May 5th, 24 Casa, Bulgaria, Daughter of former deputy minister gets EU farmsubsidy
May 10th, 24 hours, Bulgaria, More farmsubsidies – 1.6 million to the wife of the deputy minister
May 10th, Trud, Bulgaria, And the wife of deputy minister gets 1,6 million farmsubsidies
May 13th, Trud, Bulgaria, Prosecutors investigating Peythevs daughter
May 13th, Trud, Bulgaria, Investigate the daughter of former deputy minister
May 21st, Capital Weekly, Bulgaria, Problems in agricultural programs and regulations – and morality
Numerous Bulgarian media quoted the story:
May 5th, Vesti: Daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister took 0.7 million grant
May 5th, BNews: Conflict of interests: Daughter Dimitar Peytchev receives 700,000 euros of subsidies
May 5th, Bulgaria News: Daughter of a minister of the ruling coalition with 700 000 EURO is the champion on the benefitting of European farmsubsidies
May 13th, Standart News: Prosecution pre-trial proceedings initiated against Christina Peycheva for submitting false documents.
May 13th, Dnes: Pre-trial proceedings instituted against the youngest daughter of former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Dimitar Peytchev.
May 13h, Novinar: Youngest daughter of Dimitar Peytchev investigated
May 13th, Dnevnik: Youngest daughter of former Deputy Minister Dimitar Peytchev to be investigate
#1 by Me Lawyer on June 29, 2010 - 8:24 pm
I was chatting with a Greek lady a few weeks back who’d come over here looking for work, and asked her why she’d picked the UK with the recession and all the MPs expenses scandals.
She told me the Greek political system was even more corrupt and while our MPs are screwing a few grand here and there, theirs are screwing millions
#2 by OldStone50 on June 30, 2010 - 3:28 pm
News and investigative reporting are public goods and, therefore, should receive public funding that is both secure and free from political interference. That such freedom is possible to a high degree is illustrated by the ECB and some highest courts.
Unfortunately, such services are anathema to politicians, to a few bureaucrats and to private enterprise. It will be an uphill battle to create a free and supported press.
#3 by Volneas on July 19, 2010 - 4:00 pm
OldStone50 wrote “News and investigative reporting are public goods and, therefore, should receive public funding”
I couldn’t disagree more, public funding of reporting can only end up as propaganda, only a free market can create a free press. There is literally no historical precedent of a state or similar body creating free press with taxpayer’s money.
#4 by opolis on August 5, 2010 - 2:58 pm
Dear Brigitte:
We wanted to approach you in regards to an initiative which may be useful for Euobserver: Opolis Secure Mail provids free, encrypted email and messaging services, whereby the sender decides what the recipent can actually do with a message and its content. And, the sender can always monitor and track emails (also to whom – if allowed – these were forwarded).
Our thoughts are in regards to investigative journalists, who may benefit from this application, especially when working on highly sensitive reports. Interestingly enough, the service works from every host PC, and working with Opolis there would not leave any “traces” there either.
Would be great, if this were of interest to you.
The Opolis Team is also avail for any questions you may have.
Thanks!