SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 3 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev said he has vetoed a bill introducing questionable changes to the concession law which drew fire from environmentalists earlier this week.
The changes introduce opportunities for corrupt practices and decision making detrimental to public interest, Radev said in a statement published on the website of the president's office on Thursday.
"The law contains provisions, which put into question the principles of rule of law and local government," Radev added.
The parliament passed the legislation with a slim majority just days before Radev dissolved it on January 27 and called an early general election. The snap vote will be held on March 26.
The legislation provides for abolishing the maximum 35-year term of concession contracts and gives the right to open a concession procedure to individual government ministers as well as mayors.
On Monday, environmentalists gathered in front of the president's office, holding placards that read “We want nature, not concrete”. The environmentalists expressed concerns that the law puts companies into a dominant position and allows them to dictate concession rules.
“The law on concessions does not aim to aid business in general, but rather help 2-3 offshore companies, as well as companies close to the legislature,” Andrey Ralev, member of the executive council of The Greens party in Bulgaria, said in an interview for bTV private broadcaster on Friday. He did not elaborate.
The changes to the concession law were supposed to transpose into national legislation the EU directive on the award of concession contracts, adopted on February 26, 2014. Bulgaria should have transposed the directive by April 18, 2016 but failed to do so. As a result, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria on December 8, 2016, giving the country two months to comply before it refers the case to the Court of Justice of the EU.
"I think that such key legislative changes should be made after a broad public debate," Radev said.
It will be up to the new parliament to review the concession law.