Day in 3 news: Former BSP MP heads Bulgargas, Economy grows in Q2, More evidence of illegal kidney transplants

Registration for the upcoming parliamentary elections has now closed, and campaigning is gathering pace and becoming more ruthless. Slavi Trifonov, leader of There is Such a Nation, accused several former members of his party who plan to run on the We Continue the Change (WCC) ticket, of treason.

"Back on June 13th, I told you that the defectors from There is such a Nation are most likely bought with money and promises of political appointments by "We Continue the Change", Trifonov wrote on his Facebook account. In an interview with 24 Hours, former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov reiterated his suspicions about behind the scenes entanglements affecting Trifonov.

"Honestly, I didn't know he would turn out to be a Trojan horse.. I knew he was an atypical politician, and that he might have bad friends, but I thought he was the decision-maker. And seven months later, I still don't know who makes decisions for him," Petkov said.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government keeps making unorthodox appointments.

Bulgargas is now led by former BSP MP Denitsa Zlateva

Bulgargas has a brand new management team. It is now headed by Denitsa Zlateva - a Socialist Party (BSP) politician with no experience in the energy sector, although 18 months ago she was appointed as head of the administrative department in the state gas supplier.

Denitsa Zlateva has forged her political career as part of the chairing committee of the BSP. She is a member of the National Council of the party. Like other appointees of the current caretaker cabinet, she is also part of the internal opposition to Kornelia Ninova. Last year, after the third parliamentary elections in November, Zlateva was among the prominent members of BSP to demand Ninova's resignation as leader.

The reshuffle is the first in the energy sector and comes just as Bulgaria is without guaranteed natural gas imports for the coming months (if we exclude the Azeri ones). On Tuesday, Bulgargas even held an auction for supplies for the last quarter, but never announced the result.

Economic growth accelerates to 4.8% in Q2

Bulgaria's economy has continued to grow, but the euro area's has recorded a slightly weaker result compared to initial forecasts. This is according to the flash estimates for GDP growth in the second quarter of the year, which were published on Wednesday.

The Bulgarian economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021, according to the NSI data. The main driver is again final consumption, while investment continues to be negative. The result is a positive note against the backdrop of high inflation and expectations of a slowdown in the growth rate. However, the initial data usually undergoes revisions.

Bulgaria in new illegal organ transplant storm

In April last year, two Japanese citizens received kidney transplants in a Bulgarian hospital. The procedure was arranged by a Turkish citizen. The operations were successful, but the Turkish citizen stopped mediating between the patients and the hospital after Bulgarian authorities launched an investigation into suspected illegal transplants from living donors carried out in the country in 2019-2021. This information sprang from an investigation by Yomiuri Shinbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers.

Last year evidence of iIllegal transplantations at "Lozenets" University Hospital, which was government-owned and then owned by the Ministry of Health, caused the dismissal of its long-time director Prof. Lyubomir Spasov. Then interim Health Minister Dr. Stoycho Katsarov revealed that his predecessor prof. Kostadin Angelov (GERB) knew that the hospital transplanted kidneys from living donors, but took no action. So far, it is unclear how far the investigation into the organ trafficking channel has progressed and whether any charges have been filed.