GERB’s “Golden Amendment” returns the golden laboratories to Kapitan Andreevo

GERB is quietly trying to return private laboratories to the border, and the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has already allowed private companies from the “Taki-Maki” circle to carry out loading and unloading activities on Kapitan Andreevo.

In the turmoil around the election of constitutional judges and the property deals related to Assen Vassilev and Daniel Lorer, another plot is developing: unnoticed, between the first and second reading, with amendments to the Agri-Food Chain Management Act, GERB wants to return private laboratories to the border (bill).

This is done through Art. 51 of the normative act, which regulates the procedure for performing analysis of samples, tests and diagnostics for the purposes of official control.

At the moment, these analyzes are carried out in the departments’ own laboratories. In paragraph two of the current law, it is stated that the heads of the departments under Art. 7, para. 1 designate by order the official laboratories in which analyses, tests and diagnostics of elements of the agri-food chain are carried out for the purposes of official controls in accordance with the provisions of Community law.

To Taki-Maki and back

It is thanks to this text that the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) requested that the samples of fruits and vegetables entering Bulgaria be taken only by state laboratories.

Thus, mainly due to the efforts of the then Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivan Hristanov, the multi-million and long-standing feeder of companies associated with organized crime was intercepted. Hristanov announced that he had received offers of bribes, and then threats, and he was assigned state security.

The Golden Feeders “Taki-Maki”” were possible because during the time of GERB’s rule, the BFSA had delegated the analysis activities to a private laboratory. Its owners turned out to be related parties to Krasimir Kamenov – Karo and respectively with Christoforos Amanatidis – Taki.

Initially, the laboratory at the border belonged to the Interpred Eurologistician, which was associated with Razmig Chakaryan – Ami, then the laboratory changed its ownership and fell into the possession of “Eurolab 2011” – owned by Vasil Dimitrov – a former employee of Ami.

Many problems were found around this laboratory . Свързаността на физическите лица, участващи във фирмите, обслужващи различни дейности на ГКПП “ Kapitan Andreevo” determined the hypothesis that they are all part of the circle of “golden feeders” of the Captain. In the war that broke out between Razmig Chakaryan – Well, Krasimir Kamenov – Karo were also presented testimonies that Chakaryan “operates” on the border with Taki’s protection.

The assembly returns the private sector through the law

With a proposal of the “Sliven Brigade” in GERB – Desislav Taneva, Maria Belova and the Montana star of the party Irena Dimova, a change is demanded in Art. 51 of the Agri-Food Chain Management Act. According to Taneva and the company, the official laboratories in which analyses, tests and diagnostics of elements of the agri-food chain are carried out for the purposes of official controls should simply be laboratories accredited according to standard EN ISO/IEC 17025 by the Executive Agency “Bulgarian Accreditation Service” or by a national accreditation body. As a list of official laboratories, it should be published on the website of the BFSA.

A proposal by Desislava Taneva and her colleagues from GERB amendments have the characteristics of lobbying legislation, allowing importers of fruit and vegetables to choose private laboratories for their samples. Taneva is not afraid of scandals. A video conference call in which she called for the European Commission to hide abuses made the rounds in all major European media in 2020.

Over time, it has been proven that this practice – with samples in private laboratories does not work in favor of the public interest. When the control of fruits and vegetables entering from Turkey began to be exercised by a state laboratory, the found foods with pesticides and nitrates turned out to be many times more. In 2021. Only six tons of food were rejected due to excessive pesticide contamination. In July 2022 alone, they were already 22 tons .

It is obvious that with this proposal GERB does not work to protect the health and life of Bulgarian citizens, but in private interest. So far, the party has repeatedly shown that it is categorically support Ami in the battle that the state was waging against him. Georgi Elenkov from Svilengrad and GERB MP Georgi Stankov prove GERB’s bias towards the “Taki-Maki” circle with their actions“. And an investigation by BIRD found other links leading from the owners of Ami’s companies with GERB activists.

Meanwhile, the BFSA has already allowed the loading and unloading activity at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint to be carried out again by private companies associated with the Taki-Maki circle. We remind you that a panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) chaired by Judge Lyubomir Gaidov revoked the order of the former head of the BFSA prof. Hristo Daskalov from August 4, 2022, which ordered the physical checks and loading and unloading activities at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint to be carried out only by employees of the agency. In other words, the Supreme Administrative Court revoked the order with which the State returned to the border.

Lead photo: Boyko Borisov and Desislava Taneva (right)

Сглобката върна Таки-Маки на Капитан Андреево. Държавата губи 100 000 лева на ден!

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Разследващата журналистика е разузнаването на гражданите. BIRD се финансира от дарения. Ние не публикуваме реклами. Не получаваме държавни субсидии. Не разчитаме на грантове. Финансирането чрез малки дарения от читатели е гаранция за нашата независимост. Включете се, за да продължим да разкриваме злоупотреби и да държим отговорни властимащите. Използваме Вашите пари за хонорари на журналистите, командировки, изграждане и поддръжка на нашите информационни системи, такси за фирмени и имотни регистри у нас и по света, придобиване на техника и специално оборудване, осигуряване на нашата безопасност и други важни работни мисии. Важно: Ако дарявате всеки месец това ще ни даде възможност да планираме и организираме нашата работа. Благодарим Ви! Нас ни има, защото Вас Ви има!

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