From: MK
Date: Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: questions OCCRP
To: Paul Radu
Mr. Radu,
In my previous email I have answered in good faith all your questions. I see nothing in your last
email on August 18 that would warrant your persistence, a persistence that amounts to personal
harassment.
Moreover, your attempt to link your questioning to an uncritical reproduction by OCCRP of a
patently false and slanderous article about my family, leads me to believe that your intentions
are not to seek the factual truth, but to bend it with malicious intent to fit an earlier lie.
Therefore, I do not intend to continue this correspondence with you. I have no obligation to
answer your questions. Please, do not contact me anymore.
Regards,
Kalin Mitrev
On 18 Aug 2017, at 08:51, Paul Radu wrote:
Dear Mr. Mitrev,
I appreciate your fast answer.
I do have a few follow up questions that I think will further clarify the matter we are discussing:
1. I carefully checked all the money entries in the accounts of the three companies that you
received money from and Avuar-Co LLC did not contribute at all. In fact, the money you received
comes, in most instances, from a Baku company called BAKTELEKOM MMC. Can you please
tell me if you are aware of this company?
2. Who is/are the persons that you did business with at Avuar-Co LLC? Can you please provide
names and contacts?
3. The three companies you have received money from have also sent money to Luca Volonte,
http://www.politico.eu/article/luca-volonte-allegations-of-dodgy-deals-rock-council-of-europe-
azerbaijan-epp-money-laundering/
(sidenote: you have been paid the same day as Mr. Volonte) and they are now under
investigation. In fact, the three companies are investigated in a massive money laundering case.
Why did you accept money from companies you did not do business with?
4. Did your wife, Ms. Irina Bokova, know about these payments? Did you use the money for the
purchases mentioned in this article:
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/4822-bulgarian-un-official-s-3-million-property-questioned ?
5. Can you please supply any documentation/consultation/supervision you provided to
Azerbaijan for the money you have received?
Thank you,
Paul
On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 3:15 PM, MK wrote:
Hello, Mr. Radu
As I wrote to you in our initial exchange on LinkedIn on Monday, I am currently traveling on
holidays abroad until September 4th. After receiving your questions a day ago, I expected to have
the time at least until after my return in two weeks, to provide you with the requested information.
I am very surprised now by the tone and urgency of your request, which does not
suit well with its serious subject.
Despite this, and in order to avoid any possibility for misunderstanding or worse -
misinterpretation, please find below the answers to your questions:
As you must have seen from my LinkedIn profile, during the period in question I was working as a
private consultant and member of advisory and supervisory boards in different counties -
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc. All the income, generated by activities
in
different countries, was duly reported and taxed in my country of residence, Bulgaria.
The payments you inquire about were for consultancy work from May 2011 to April 2014 with the
local company Avuar-Co LLC from Baku. The company was working with the Ministry of
Emergency Situation of Azerbaijan on a major government programme for the mitigation and
prevention of the disastrous floodings in the Kura-Aras river basin. The programme involved a
wide array of activities and required coordination of large number of public and private entities,
both from the country and from abroad, as well as multilateral financial institutions and donors.
My role included, in particular, strategic advice on: setting up and monitoring complex projects
with public and private participation; implementing best EU and international practices on PPPs
and tenders; working with multilateral donors and IFIs; cooperation with reputable foreign
companies in the fields, relevant to the Kura-Aras basin reconstruction and rehabilitation, etc.
My qualification for the job is based on my experience in organising, managing, supervising and
consulting major projects in Bulgaria, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in
working with international donors and IFIs. Specifically to Azerbaijan, as a member of the EBRD
board of directors during the preceding seven years (2002-2009) I had taken part in the adoption
and monitoring of multimillion investments in the country including such flagship projects as the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and Shah Deniz gas and gas condensate field development in
2003, and in meetings with government, foreign investors and local businesses in London and in
Azerbaijan itself.
My work with Avuar-Co LLC was terminated in April 2014 on my request in connection with my
reelection as of May 1st to the board of directors of the EBRD.
As to the three companies, named in your email, I must state that I have had no contact with and
have no information why Avuar-Co chose to pay my commission through them. On this you may
wish to contact Avuar-Co directly on the company email, copied above, avuar-co@outlook.com.
I believe that the above information, which is factually and legally accurate, answers fully your
potential concerns.
On my side, I would like to know what is the reason behind your questions about my work in
Azerbaijan and its remuneration?
Regards,
Kalin Mitrev