GERB Withdraws Bulgaria's ex-Energy Min from Belene Committee

Bulgaria's main ruling party has pulled former Energy Minister Delya Dobrev out of the parliamentary committee set up to look into the circumstances around the abandoned Belene nuclear plant project (NPP).

The development follows a request sent from the prosecution to Parliament to have Dobrev's immunity as a lawmaker revoked.

The prosecuting authority maintains that evidence suggests we should be tried for abeyance regarding the Belene NPP project in his capacity as minister of economy, energy and tourism back in 2012-2013.

A special committee was set up earlier in October to look into the circumstances which piled up hundreds of millions worth of debt to Russia's Atomstroyexport regarding the Belene NPP.

Earlier in October, two former energy officials and a former energy minister were indicted over the sale of Belene NPP's old equipment in a way that incurred losses to the state.

Dobrev also chairs the Energy Committee in Parliament.