Julian Popov, one of Bulgaria’s nominees for the position of EU commissioner and former environment minister, regularly used the government employee’s “VIP” privileges to travel to his home in London, sources say.
This is in conflict with the established rules of the usual procedure, which state that the government terminal at Sofia airport (VIP A) may only be used while performing official duties, and only with the written approval of the Bulgarian prime minister. Mr. Popov’s established residence is in London.
Several inconsistencies have been discovered while comparing the reports from the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Environment and Water (which Popov was in charge of) on the Denkov Cabinet missions and those provided by the Ministry of Transport and Communications regarding which officials were allowed transit through the terminal.
Most notably, on September 7th, 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Moldova and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Moldova submitted a report to the Commission.
This document stated that Popov, then a minister in the Denkov Cabinet, travelled to London, and later returned on the 12th of the same month. However, there is no record of a press release, official or otherwise, mentioning an official visit by the minister in any capacity for those dates.
Furthermore, the only documented mention of Mr. Popov during this time is a letter to the National Assembly stating that “due to urgent commitments” Minister Julian Popov would not be able to participate in the parliamentary scrutiny.
Another similar instance is when Popov travelled to London on December 22nd, 2023, the last working day of the year. Once again, there were no travel orders from the Council of Ministers and no press releases for an official visit to the United Kingdom.
There are several more occasions, including his return from London while using the government (VIP A) terminal in Sofia, despite having been on a business trip in Paris, not London, between the 8th and 12th of November of 2023. A similar occurrence happened when he returned from a secondment in Brussels, which lasted from July 28th to July 30th. | BGNES
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