Corruption and Russian meddling go hand in hand, says Bulgarian PM. By Marton Dunai

Nikolai Denkov says ruling coalition fell apart over judicial reforms, triggering sixth general election in 3 years

Nikolai Denkov said the cabinet he headed for less than a year struggled to root out graft and deeply entrenched connections to Moscow © Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Marton Dunai in Budapest

Corruption in Bulgaria remains a main avenue for Russian meddling and has contributed to the ruling coalition falling apart, the outgoing Bulgarian premier said as his nation prepared for its sixth election in three years.

Nikolai Denkov, who steps down on Tuesday, told the Financial Times that the cabinet he headed for less than a year struggled to root out graft and deeply entrenched connections to Moscow in the EU and Nato member bordering the Black Sea.

“A lot of the Russian influence in the past, in the energy sector for example, came through corruption,” Denkov said, in reference to energy deals struck by previous governments that benefited Russia’s energy giant Gazprom.

He said his party, We Continue the Change, remained committed to fighting both corruption and Russian influence: “We work to push these two agendas in parallel because we know they’re linked to each other.”

Bulgaria has not had a long-lasting government since the collapse of the centre-right government led by Boyko Borisov in 2021 owing to mass protests against systemic corruption.

Borisov’s party, Gerb, struck a coalition deal last year with two liberal parties, including Denkov’s We Continue the Change. But the coalition has collapsed as Gerb was at odds with its partners over reforms of Bulgaria’s anti-corruption office, the security services and other agencies.

Among the deals Borisov secured while in office was a pipeline called TurkStream, which Denkov and other Bulgarian politicians say benefited Gazprom. Such deals “should be investigated” Denkov said. Borisov has maintained that the pipeline was not detrimental to Bulgarian interests.

Analysts said the collapse of the government should have been expected given Borisov’s party’s reluctance to back deep changes to the security apparatus and empowering prosecutors to go after corruption and fraud.

“It was foolish to think the old guard would not protect their interests,” said Goran Georgiev, an analyst at the Sofia-based Center for the Study of Democracy. “They won’t give up that power”, he said, adding that the liberal parties “failed to show that patience and tenacity” of the “much more experienced and entrenched Gerb”.

Denkov blamed Gerb for allowing itself to be influenced by a local oligarch, Delyan Peevski, who joined an opposition party, the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and became one of its leaders.

Peevski, who owns a sprawling group of companies in the media, construction and tobacco sectors, was placed under US sanctions in 2021 for his “extensive role in corruption in Bulgaria”. The UK followed suit in 2023, saying Peevski had “been involved in attempts to exert control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgarian society through bribery and use of his media empire”.

The media mogul turned politician had “a strong sway over Gerb”, Denkov said, recalling coalition meetings where Peevski was invited by Gerb and ended up dominating the discussion.

MRF said that allegations of the party or Peevski promoting Russian interests were “absolutely false” and described them as “speculation and manipulation attempts of failed politicians”. Peevski was a “staunch” defender of euro-Atlantic integration and an “opponent of Russia”, the party said.

A Gerb spokesperson said that “Peevski supported the cabinet during the past nine months” but added that he was not present during internal coalition talks. Gerb was “the largest political party in Bulgaria and we take all our decisions independently”, the spokesperson added.

Borisov has vehemently rejected any graft accusations from fellow politicians and was released without charges two years ago after an investigation into alleged corruption. Last month he said his coalition partners only wanted to amass greater power and were engaged in a “brazen abuse of the fair public expectations”.

“We had no differences whatsoever regarding the main topics: the continuation of the judicial reform, the fight against corruption,” he said. “Let the Bulgarian citizens decide, by means of elections, who and how [they] should govern Bulgaria.”

President Rumen Radev has appointed a caretaker administration that will be led by the country’s chief auditor Dimitar Glavchev, and set the election date for June 9 to coincide with the country’s vote for the European parliament.

“After the five oaths I took from five caretaker governments as president, there is already another [coming],” Radev said.

Bulgaria is a big manufacturer of Soviet-standard ammunition used by Ukraine’s army in its fight against the full-scale invasion by Russia. Sofia is wary of Russian sabotage of facilities even as it plans to increase the industry’s output further.

Denkov said Bulgaria’s arms manufacturers were already operating at full capacity and despite the political uncertainty that should not change. He also urged EU partners to scale up their own production.