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Delyan Slavchev Peevski (Bulgarian: Делян Славчев Пеевски) (born 27 July 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}entrepreneur and media mogul. He serves as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 44th National Assembly.

Radio Bulgaria nicknamed Peevski "the undisputed media mogul of Bulgaria."^[12] According to Reporters Without Borders, his media group consisting of 6 newspapers, "New Bulgarian Media Group" controls nearly 80% of print media distribution.^[13] He is said to control or influence many other local medias and websites, that he does not officially own.^[14]

Numerous sources claim he's using his medias for influence peddling and attack campaigns against journalists and other medias opposing his personal views and ideals, as well as political or personal enemies in attempt to damage their reputation.^{[15][16][17][18]} In the Reporters Without Borders 2018 report about Bulgaria, Peevski is listed as the most notorious embodiment of oligarch, involved with corruption and affairs with the government due to his media influence and one of the reasons why Bulgaria is ranked lower in the World Press Freedom Index than any other European Union member and all the countries in the western Balkans.^[13]

It is argued that as the financial probes he was the object of were negative, those assertions proven wrong. The results of the last probe, which was conducted by the Counter-Corruption and Unlawful Assets Forfeiture Commission (KPKONPI), were presented June 14 and cleared Delyan Peevski of all suspicions of financial manipulations and tax evasions, raised against him by his enemies and opponents, Bulgarian News Agency reported, although this has nothing to do with the accusations of unlawful media control.^[19] On the results' basis, Plamen Georgiev, chairman of KPKONPI, declared Peevski a "model citizen" due to the fact that he has been under scrutiny for more than a decade and all the probes for tax evasion only showed that he committed no violations of the tax law. Mr. Peevski is one of the biggest taxpayers in this country, Plamen Georgiev stated.^[20]

Education

Peevski graduated from 119 SOU in Sofia in 1998 and completed his legal studies at the South-West University in 2003. His university diploma is a subject of a dispute for authenticity.^[21]

Political career

In 2001, Peevski joined the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII). In 2007, he was fired as a deputy minister during the Socialist-led government in a corruption scandal. He was investigated, but the investigation was dropped and he was given his job back.^[22]

In June 2013, Peevski was elected President of the State Agency for National Security, with the votes of 116 MPs.^[23] Thousands of Bulgarians gathered in front of government headquarters in Sofia to protest against the oligarch's appointment, chanting "Mafia" and "resign."^[22] Under the pressure of the protests against the Oresharski cabinet that followed, Parliament unanimously revised its decision later the same month.^[24] After a couple of months of lack of clarity whether under these conditions Peevski was still considered an MP or not, eventually in December 2013 the Constitutional Court decided that he still was an MP.^[25]

In May 2014, Peevski was elected to the European Parliament on the MRF ticket,^[26] but immediately thereafter decided to give up his seat. He explained that his motivation to participate in the European elections, while not taking his seat, had been to restore his reputation.^[27][28]

In mid June 2014, three people were arrested due to their involvement in an alleged murder plot against Peevski, but they were eventually released because of a lack of sufficient evidence.^[29][30]

Parliamentary activity

As a member of the Bulgarian National Assembly he moved together with another two MPs from the parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - Yordan Tsonev and Hamid Hamid, amendments to the Bank Insolvency Act. The amendments, which are related to Corpbank (KTB), were conclusively adopted in February, 2018, Bulgarian News Agency reported. According to the movers' reasons, the idea of the amendments is to establish an effective mechanism for replenishing a bankrupt bank's bankruptcy estate and to suppress schemes for plundering assets purchased directly or indirectly on money originating from such a bank.^[31]

The president of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev has put a veto on the amendments.^[32] His veto was later overturned by the MPs and the amendments were conclusively adopted by the Parliament on 7 March 2018.^[33]

Those were second amendments, filed by Peevski and his colleagues from the Parliamentary group of MRF, with reference to the so-called "KTB case" and unveiling the truth about the embezzlement of the bank by its majority shareholder Tzvetan Vassilev. In 2016 the MP together with two more members of the same parliamentary group - Yordan Tzonev and the former minister of finances Peter Chobanov, moved urgent amendment to the Bank Insolvency Act in order to allow the publicizing of the report of AlixPartners Services UK LLP, which was contracted to trace and take action for the preservation and recovery of the assets of the failed Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB), Bulgarian News Agency reported.^[34] After the amendments were adopted, the report was translated in Bulgarian and published in May, 2016. According to the document, the audit confirmed that the bank functioned as a financial pyramid and was siphoned off through large loans to companies related to the majority shareholder Tzvetan Vassilev. More than half of the loans at the value of 2,5 billion BGN were given to companies related to Vassilev. The report also shows that the majority shareholder also used the bank for "personal transactions".^[35]

On July 4, Parliament approved in principle other amendments, moved by Peevski and his colleagues Yordan Tzonev, Hamid Hamid and Velislava Krusteva, Bulgarian News Agency reported.^[36] The new bill is on the disclosure of real owners and financing of media organizations. Authors stated that the amendments aim to bring full transparency on the media sector now having problems with online media outlets, whose owners and financing are unknown. And to show whether or not this is a monopolist market. Yet, the opponents of the amendments stated that the bill attacks Delyan Peesvki's rivals because it requires disclosure of all sources of financing of media organizations other than the proceeds from advertising and bank loans. The opponents of the bill state that "it is aimed against the opposition-minded news media, which use financing from non-government organizations and foreign grants". The day after bill's approval, Peevski, Hamid, Tzonev and Krusteva moved additional amendments requiring disclosure of bank loans and advertising incomes as well in order to meet the expectations of society. Yet the bill is still under attacks by its opponents.

Peevski has the lowest attendance in the current parliament. He appeared in only one plenary session so far.^[37]

Role in Corporate Commercial Bank closure

In June 2014, a panic caused a run on Corporate Commercial Bank ("CorpBank") in Bulgaria.^[38] According to Politico, the panic "appears to have been triggered when Delyan Peevski … pulled out massive amounts of money from Corporate Commercial Bank."^[39] The run resulted in the bank being taken over by the Bulgaria National Bank. At the time media reports said that the bank's closing was due to a dispute between bank owner Vassilev and Peevski. Vassilev told a Forbes reporter, "Delyan Peevski is simply one of the main tools that the Bulgarian political mafia uses to blackmail Bulgarian business—the visible part of a rather large iceberg of corruption."^[38] Vassilev said that the political mafia had tried to "downgrade what happened to Corpbank to a personal conflict between Mr. Peevski and me, which is utterly untrue."^[38] "The claim that I had tried to organize Mr. Peevski's murder was subsequently disproved in court, but it was too late—more than 20% of CorpBank's assets were withdrawn in cash in the span of 4 days," Vassilev said.^[38]
At the same time the above-mentioned report of AlixPartners - the company, which was hired to trace the assets of the bank, shows that the reason Corpbank (KTB) bankrupted was that it had been functioning for years as a financial pyramid. The report says that KTB was siphoned off through large loans to companies related to the majority shareholder Tzvetan Vassilev. More than half of the loans at the value of 2,5 billion BGN were given to companies related to Vassilev. The report also shows that the majority shareholder also used the bank for “personal transactions”. 243 corporate clients of the bank had 472 outstanding loans. These loans, according to the auditors, are unlikely to be recovered, because they were given to non-functioning enterprises or had little collateral, the Bulgarian National TV reported.^[40]

The run on CorpBank coincided with a run on another bank, First Investment Bank ("FI Bank"). Media reports and social media messages helped cause the run on both banks.^[41] However, the Bulgaria National Bank shut down CorpBank while keeping Fi Bank open with emergency liquidity. According to Nikolay Staykov of the Bulgarian Protest Network, CorpBank was brought down by the government in order to remove Vassilev, while the government protected FI Bank—the bank that Peevski moved his money into.^[41] The Bulgarian judicial system has a reputation for corruption.^[42] According to Forbes,^[41] "The removal of Vassilev from the scene leaves Peevski in effective control not only of Bulgarian media and secret services, but of its banking sector too. Such concentration of power is a cause for concern in a supposedly democratic country."^[41]

Media and business empire

As of 2013, Peevski's media empire controlled six of the 12 largest circulating newspapers. It also had a monopoly on newspaper distribution and digital TV channels.^[43] By 2016, according to Radio Bulgaria, the number of newspapers he owned increased to more than 20.^[44]

In 2016, Peevski also owned several construction companies and was the owner of Bulgartabac, the biggest manufacturer and seller of tobacco and related products.^[44] “The Turkish Financial Crime Investigation Board (MASAK) and the Turkish Ministry of Customs and Trade on their part accused Bulgartabac of being one of the biggest cigarette-smuggling entities in Turkey and of being closely allied to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, which is on the European list of terrorist organizations,” according to Radio Bulgaria.^[44]

In early 2016, Peevski published a letter to the media where he said he would no longer start any new business projects in Bulgaria. He said his decision was due to an "ongoing 'smear' campaign" and political pressure.^[44]

In an analysis, Radio Bulgaria said it was difficult to pinpoint why Peevski was downsizing his business empire. However, they wrote:^[44]

"Still, some analysts say there is a connection between the shocks tearing across the Peevski conglomerate and the bankruptcy, two years ago, of the Corporate Commercial Bank with majority owner, Peevksi's own former business partner and friend Tsvetan Vasilev. There is ample evidence that it was precisely the crediting from that bank that helped Delyan Peevksi build his media empire, stone by stone, an empire that has been putting out tentacles into many other economic sectors and spheres. But the cheap (free?) financing is now gone and the media market is not particularly lucrative."

References

Bibliography