The Bulgarian Parliament has elected a new seven-member Supervisory Board of the Privatization Agency (PA).

Three of the members are representatives of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), two from its coalition partner in the government, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and one each from the Coalition for Bulgaria (CFB) and the United Democratic Forces (UtDF).

The new members of the PA Supervisory Board, voted in last Friday, are Teodor Stoev, Petko Nikolov and Russi Mehandjiev of the NMSII; Dimitar Hristov and Nedjmi Ali of the MRF; Dimitar Bachvarov of the UtDF (former chairman of the Supervisory Board), and Nikolai Koychev of the CFB.

During the debates, the UtDF and the CFB raised objections against the distribution of seats in the PA Supervisory Board. MPs of the UtDF said that for some of the candidates there was a conflict of interest, keeping in mind their previous activities.

Nikola Nikolov (UtDF) insisted that the candidates submit declarations stating there would be no conflict of interest if they were elected to the Supervisory Board. The document could not be used in court but could guarantee that ethics would be observed, he said. Muravei Radev (UtDF) objected to the nomination of Ali, saying he has worked for a tobacco purchasing company in Djebel whose performance was disastrous and resulted in Bulgartabac paying twice for the same quantity of tobacco.

The chairman of the parliamentary economic commission, Valeri Dimitrov (NMSII) said every one of the PA Supervisory Board's members should state if they have an interest in the conclusion or non-conclusion of a deal on a case-by-case basis. If the member has such an interest, he must not take part in the discussion of the deal or the vote taken on it. Atanas Paparizov (CFB) said that the CFB supported the changes in the PA Supervisory Board because there should be a new team exercising control on privatization transactions. However, he said he is not happy that the ruling political forces are using the law to include in the Supervisory Board as many representatives of their own as possible. In his view, this will make it possible for the ruling majority to pull the strings of the supervisory body.

The CFB will insist at the very beginning of September (when Parliament resumes work after the summer recess) on amendments to the Privatization Act aimed at ensuring greater transparency in the privatization process.

Finance Minister Milen Velchev said last week that the new government "will do its best to finalize the privatization of DSK Bank by the end of 2002."

The government decided last Thursday to move the general meeting of the bank to September. The state holds 75 per cent of it. The general meeting, which according to Velchev would probably be held September 19, would change the members of the bank's supervisory board. It would then change the board of directors. Velchev said they do not yet have a clear position on who the new management should be.

Upon privatization, at least 51 per cent of DSK Bank's capital will go to a strategic investor. The future buyer would exercise effective control over the bank. "The government may sell more than 51 per cent of the capital," Velchev said. "So far no one has enquired about the bank and there have been no talks on a possible deal."

DSK Bank is one of the most popular Bulgarian banks and referred to as "the people's bank."