2024-08-20 11:35:38
After being the majority owner for 6 years, the honorary chairman of DPS left the energy sector, and 11 days later, Daniel Papazov already on documents is also the owner of his sea shed in “Rosenets”
In the energy industry, ownership changes rarely happen – long-term investors who are in no hurry to sell usually “play” there. An exception to this rule is the “Varna” thermal power station, which has changed four owners in 16 years.
Back in 1968, the thermal power plant was built, and even under socialism, its blocks were reconstructed to burn natural gas, not just coal. And so until 2006, when it was sold to the Czech company CEZ for 206 million euros.
9 years later, it turns out that the plant does not meet the EU requirements for harmful emissions, and it has to be temporarily shut down. On December 20, 2017, the Czechs sold the “Varna” TPP for about 30 million euros to “Sigda” OOD, owned by the family of Danail Papazov – former Minister of Transport in the Oresharsksi Cabinet.
Papazov was an unknown long-distance sailing captain until 2001, when, with the coming to power of the NDSV, he became the executive director of the Varna port. In 2013, he was elected Minister of Transport.
After the fall of the “Oresharski” cabinet, Papazov was forgotten – until 2017, when it turned out that his son Stanislav Papazov and his daughter Ivelina Papazova with their company “Sigda” bought the “Varna” TPP from CEZ within the framework of a tender procedure.
Less than a year later, Ahmed Dogan, the honorary chairman of DPS, became the majority shareholder in “Sigda” and, accordingly, in Tetza.
In 2018, the “Varna” thermal power plant resumed work, with only three new units operating with natural gas in operation.
Main activity it’s at headquarters the provision of the so-called cold reserve
of the power system. This means that the plant is ready to work if necessary. Thus, for nearly two years, its owners received about BGN 53 million from the state, and the plant worked 40 days a week, according to a report from the Electricity System Operator (ESO).
However, with changes in the Energy Law in mid-2020, the deputies decided that a cold reserve would be provided only by the state thermal power plant “Maritsa Iztok 2” and the Papazov and Dogan power plant only operated for the free market.
But the lack of guaranteed sales also led to
accumulation of debts of 40 BGN million to the state gas supplier “Bulgargaz”.
It recently became clear that the repayment of the debt has been rescheduled for a period of 3 years.
The sharp increase in gas prices in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine forced the operator to stop work, but he continued to conclude contracts for the supply of electricity. The magic of how a non-working plant supplies electricity actually turned out to be a simple scheme – the guy appeared at auctions announced by the Kozloduy NPP, won quotas of cheap nuclear power and resold it to the traders with whom he had contracts.
Meanwhile, the owners of the Varna TPP periodically announced their intention to build photovoltaics in place of the old coal units and to use hydrogen as fuel. However, none of this happened.
And despite the work stoppage it turned out that
all liens and debts of headquarters are deleted
– at least according to the documents in the Commercial Register. A few days ago, the mystery was solved – this happened with money from the Bulgarian Development Bank and through part of the unsecured loan for 150 million BGN, granted in 2019 to the company “Roadway Construction”, controlled by Rumen Gaitanski-Valka.
A series of deals in his internal business circle followed to “save” the Varna TPP. With the loan, the company buys “Road Engineering”, which is owned by another Gaitanski company – “Bio Mining”. She, in turn, grants a loan to Crystal Water – a company owned by Gaitanski’s wife and a guarantor for another loan granted by Commercial Bank D to Varna TPP. Thus, with BGN 30 million out of BGN 148 million, “Crystalna Voda” repays the liabilities of the plant.
The spending of the money from the BBR loan became the reason for the Anti-Corruption Commission to start an investigation. What is known so far is that the collateral for the loan was fictitious. A contract of “Road Construction Engineering” for the supply of aggregates was presented, but it was terminated a week after it was signed. So
the unsecured credit has been written off
as uncollectible With the money from the large loan, however, expensive cars were also bought, some of which were seized by the investigators on Wednesday during an inspection of Gaitanski’s properties.
Three days after the KPK investigation began, it became clear that there was a new change of ownership at the Varna TPP. On August 5, an agreement was concluded between “Sigda” and “Sigda Investment”, in which Papazov and Dogan have a share, to return the shares of the headquarters to their previous owner. The reason – “Sigda Investment” did not pay the agreed price of BGN 8.505 million for the transfer of the shares from “Sigda” to “Sigda Investment”. In this way, at least for the time being, the “Varna” thermal power plant is again owned only by Papazov and his family, but now without liens and debts. And Ahmed Dogan, after 6 years as an investor, left the energy industry.
Exactly 11 days later, after the honorary chairman of the DPS leaves the Varna TPP – on August 16, Friday, the “Bird” website discovers another movement in the businesses around him. The majority 95% share in the company “Hermes Solar”, which owns the marina of the honorary chairman in Rosenets, has also already been transferred to Daniel Papazov. The politician Dogan officially became the owner of this company in February 2024. Thus, he confirmed that he lives on the property to which Hristo Ivanov sailed in protest with a rubber boat. The Russian Georgy Seropyan retains his 5% stake in “Hermes Solar” – the company that owns the complex perched on Cape Chukalyata (better known as Otmanli). The limited liability company itself was registered in 2011 with a capital of… BGN 100, when its majority owner is Khairie Süleyman Hadjiyska (with 85%), and her brother Mustafa Shan and the Russian Seropyan own five percent each. Hadzhiyska was the secretary of the personal assistant of Ahmed Dogan – Ahmed Emin, who in 2008 committed suicide in the shed of the DPS leader in the capital’s “Boyana” district.
The former minister Papazov replaces the next majority owner of the sea barn – Snezhana Karova. She is the daughter of Karamfil Karov, chairman of the municipal council in Devin (2011-2015) and head of the local structure of the DPS.
The sea barn, where Dogan lives almost year-round, is on the site of the destroyed buildings of the former rowing base and yacht club of “Neftohim”. The plots of land in the park are first included in the assets of the privatized oil refinery, which are resold. (24 cups)