Martin Slavov and Kiril Dobrev, photo BGNES

An email sent by Sliven socialist Martin Slavov to the Member of the Parliament Kiril Dobrev on December 21, 2009, reveals how socialists see the “dividend” from attracting major investors. Bay Ivan, mentioned in the text, is apparently a codename of President Georgi Parvanov. Slavov, Dobrev and current Minister of Economy Stoynev are considered to be close to Parvanov’s circle.

(The emails are written in Bulgarian, but with the use of the Latin alphabet – editor’s note)

Kiro (Kiril), hi,

I wish to share with you an idea, which, I think, if we realize, would end up being very profitable for us and Bay Ivan.

There was a recent interview of Bay Ivan, and from everything he said, the most important was that from now on his priority would be the economy and lobbying with big investors. This impressed me very much and I decided to think about the matter.

And this is what I conceived: The sole large global company, a giant and a hegemon in its sector, which is not yet present in BG, is IKEA – a chain of stores selling furniture and all kinds of home furnishings.

For years in a row, the company is N1 by many different criteria; they have over 200 stores all across Europe (including Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania), but they have no positions on the Bulgarian market.

For 1-2 years now, some Greeks are trying to open an IKEA store in Sofia, but constantly postpone it. Now they are talking no earlier than 2012-2013.

They are IKEA representatives for Greece and Cyprus, and obviously want to swallow Bulgaria, but are short of strength – and this is for the better.

I propose that you discuss this issue with Yavor K, Kornelia N, Atanas K and Drago and ask them if they have more info on the issue.

Based on the info that you will obtain from them, you should present the idea to Bay Ivan and make him invite PERSONALLY the owner of IKEA – Invar Kampard. He is Swedish and the wealthiest European for 2008 and one of the top 10 in the world. An invitation from such place to such person is something big and if he agrees to visit Bulgaria, this will be a real bull’s eye.

Bay Ivan would gain huge dividend as an initiator of an anti-crisis initiative (personal care for new investments in the country and lower unemployment etc.).

He, personally, will become a warrantor for the favorable investment climate in Bulgaria… his ratings will skyrocket even higher.

Our mayors from largest cities (Varna, Ruse, Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv) must take part in the meeting and confirm their readiness for partnership.

We must convince Mr. Kampard that IKEA should directly open (not through Greece) a representation in Bulgaria and should plan opening 4-5 stores in the next 4-5 years.

Naturally, our loyal and reliable people must be proposed to lead this representation (there will be buying of land plots, building of offices, hiring staff etc.).

After that, the construction of the stores should be done by our loyal and reliable companies.

Reliable individuals loyal to us should also be appointed as regional managers, and even as regular employees so that we can help jobless young people

Etc., etc. – you are yourself aware what kind of a position is this.

You too, think about it!

Greetings,

Martin

The former leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, in Sliven, Martin Slavov, became famous after recordings leaked in the media. They exposed him in saying he wanted 100 000 levs to withdraw as a candidate of the Socialist Party in the local elections and other outrageous things. After the scandal, Slavov resigned from office and was slated for expulsion from the party.

Besides being a party activist, Slavov is also a big businessman. The following email, sent to Dobrev on December 13, 2009, reveals some subtleties of his economic doctrine: people loyal to us and reliable; companies loyal to us and reliable… The email mentions a meeting with the man (of) H.Kov. (Hristo Kovachki?) and a business offer for a production line, accompanied by arranging things for the next 10 years of which 2 gratis. Slavov begs Kiril Dobrev to help with whatever he can do before H.Kov. This is a case of providing cover-up by AG (Gagauzov? – former regional minister from BSP – editor’s note) for Yordan Lechkov (former mayor of Sliven – editor’s note).

Kiro, hi,

I met with the man H.Kov.

They want very much to take my production line, but say it was not possible to replace it with another one.

They offer to buy my line for 100 thousand levs (which is extremely cheap) in cash and arrange again my things in ObB (most likely a bank – United Bulgaria Bank) for the next 10 years, of which 2 gratis.

If I am to accept this price, at least they should grant me 300-350 thousand levs (150-160 thousand euros) as floating assets so that the whole deal ends up inked for about 600 thousand euros (450+150 new).

I can give them 3 properties as collateral, one of which costs about 900 thousand euros; the others are about 140-150 thousand euros each; this way there will be no risk for them. In the next 2 years, I will sell these properties and will pay off the debt; meanwhile I will do some trade with the floating assets and use the interest.

I also have quite a few stores for sale (for about 350-400 thousand euros), but for the time being everything is in the freezer.

As for the line, I do not know if I will sell it to them for this price because this week people from an Israeli company came here precisely for this.

At first reading, I offered it to them for 255 thousand euros and two weeks later they landed in Sofia. They said if I lower the price by 8%-10%, they could buy it.

If they end up withdrawing from the deal, the project in Tunis will start moving some after January 1, 2010, and the chances there are not slim. There, eventually, I, most likely, will liquidate the entire machinery.

Please help with whatever you can before H.Kov. – I know how to be grateful.

Have a nice weekend with the family.

Greetings

Martin Slavov

P.S. I am sending you here a little article for you to read; something I have been talking about in the last 4 years, but which AG was covering up.http://www.capital.bg/show.php?storyid=829349

 

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