Corrupt politicians, shady businessmen, upstart pop and movie stars, sports celebrities, greedy and even hereditary monarchs are now in a state of apprehension in 200 countries around the world after the outbreak of the largest financial and banking scandal of the planet, which quickly became popular with the name Swissleaks. It refers to a sum of over 180 billion euro of hidden taxes by transferring them less than ten years ago to the Geneva-based branch of the second largest bank in the world - the British HSBC.

In the list of individuals and companies from different countries sneaks the name of Bulgaria, as well as names of Bulgarian companies and individuals. This country is small and has modest economic opportunities, which means that Bulgarians are not among the richest people on the planet who benefited from discrete services of the Swiss bank in order to conceal their wealth and avoid paying taxes. The name of Bulgaria is connected with only USD 380 million exported illegally from 95 companies and individuals with Bulgarian residence. This puts the country in 69th place in the world rankings, but surely the holder of a bank account containing USD 264 mln is one step ahead that the country as a whole. Anyway, in comparison, the King of Morocco Mohammed VI and his less than USD 10 million look quite meager.

This, of course, can hardly be a reason for pride because nowhere in the world is tax evasion a customary and prestigious occupation for honest people and businesses. It is equally certain that often at the heart of big money and resources stand not only laudable actions and compliance with the law. This is even more valid for the business sector and politics in Bulgaria at the time when these huge opportunities for the country's money were accumulated. This was the turbulent, cloudy and especially controversial transition period from totalitarianism to democracy and market economy, these were the years between 1988 and 2006, when the privatization enabled the enterprising, more ruthless and more aggressive members of society to acquire huge assets against meager payment. Then was the time of the mafia guys, the so-called “thugs”, those rude and ugly young men with massive muscles and low foreheads dressed in black who applied the law of the jungle to conquer by force market niches and take control over highly profitable businesses. At that time, there were either no laws adequate to the new realities or these brazen guys perceived the existing laws as a door in the field, i.e. as something that must be observed only if there is no way to get round it. And the accumulated millions and billions of these shady, semi-legal or outright criminal businesses had somehow to come to light. What better solution than legalization of black money using a helpful Swiss bank with a huge worldwide prestige !? And without paying taxes on capital of unknown origin at that.

The revelations about Swiss Leaks have shown that the origin of this money was not completely unknown to the Bulgarian authorities which have been informed of the names in the lists of Hervé Falciani to people performing tax evasion. The public however is not yet informed whether the competent Bulgarian authorities have tried to prove the illegal nature of capital and return the money to so needy Bulgaria or they have turned a blind eye on the problem. Completely faithful in this context are the conclusions in the last annual report of the European Commission on the state of justice and home affairs in Bulgaria, indicating once again high-level corruption and inefficient judiciary as a persistent problem for the country.

English Rossitsa Petcova