Bulgaria's State Utility Head Axed in Wake of Nuclear Plant Scandal

[jpak]

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=127329

Krasimir Parvanov, head of Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK, has been sacked following objections to a deal he signed with Russian partners for the nuclear power plant project in Belene.

Late Thursday night the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), which groups the country's top energy assets, voted unanimously to fire Parvanov as head of NEK, a BEH subsidiary, the holding said in a statement.

The formal motives for dismissing Krasimir Parvanov as the CEO of NEK are "a brutal violation of hierarchical rules, and a failure to observe the approved procedure for holding negotiations."

<snip>

The scandal erupted on Tuesday last week after the head of the national utility company NEK Krasimir Parvanov signed an agreement with Rosatom's subsidiary Atomstroyexport that potentially threatens Bulgaria's national interests by obliging the Bulgarian government to reach a final agreement with the Russians on Belene by June 1, 2001.

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[kristopher]

1. "Sneaky" they said. That surprises them?

Their cut of the purse must have been short.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11794199

19 November 2010
Former China nuclear head jailed for life over bribes

...Kang Rixin was dismissed last year from the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, the biggest operator of nuclear power plants in China.

He was convicted by a Beijing court of abusing his position to enable others to profit, state media said.

He was spared the death penalty because he co-operated with investigators and returned the funds.

Kang had accepted bribes of 6.6m yuan ($970,000) between 2004 and 2009 as general manager of the firm, the China Daily reported....

[jpak]

2. Corruption is rampant in the nuclear industry

yup

[kristopher]

3. It is far deeper than mere corruption.

Corruption is bad, but its effects are usually limited by the scope of any given company's business interests. With nuclear fission, we have a global network of quasi-governmental, for profit corporations operating with all resources such a "military-industrial" type structure implies.

I'd love to hear a detailed accounting by John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man) of his activities related to Shoreham.