This becomes possible after repayment of the entire obligation of the SCC to the BDB
All pledges made in past years on the shares of some of the state-owned enterprises to the State Consolidation Company (SCC) have now been deleted. Among them are LB Bulgaricum EAD, Kintex EAD, Nitti EAD and others. Until now, these companies were pledged as collateral for the SCC loan to the Bulgarian Development Bank. This put at risk the development of strategic assets for the state, such as the enterprises under the umbrella of the State Consolidation Company.
This became possible after the repayment of the entire principal of the company’s loan to the BDB. Thus the accumulation of interest, which amounted to more than BGN 22 million over the years, was stopped. Last year alone they amounted to BGN 6 and a half million. It should be recalled that in order to repay the loan, the Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov took all the necessary actions according to the law and recovered the first BGN 45 million from the company that was entrusted with the implementation of the project for the unrealized government complex.
The loan liability was accrued between 2018 and 2020 by the State Consolidation Company in relation to an advance paid to the company that was the contractor for the failed government complex, and also due to a liability bought by the State Consolidation Company in 2018 relating to Kemira EOOD, which has already been referred to the Public Prosecution Office and the State continues to suffer damages.
With the repayment of the loan and the deletion of all liens on the companies’ shares, they will now be able to develop and pay dividends to the budget instead of continuing to pay interest on the loan. ‘Our next steps are related to the future of these enterprises,’ Bogdanov stressed. According to him, the repayment of the entire amount of the loan saves significant funds that have been spent so far and which will be invested in the sustainable development of enterprises in the future.
Minister Bogdanov was adamant that in all cases of ineffective management, the necessary legal actions will be taken to protect the state interest. Work is also ongoing to recover more financial damage generated in previous years in various areas.