The Swedish-language Österbottens Tidning, published in Ostrobothnia, reports that one of the former (now substitute) members of the Fennovoima board, Djurica Tankosic, has ties to the so-called Bulgarian energy mafia. Tankosic is a citizen of the United States.
ÖT bases its report on a document released by journalistic website WikiLeaks and dated to 2006. The document shows that Tankosic has "very close" ties to a chief of the Bulgarian energy sector, Bogomil Manchev. The US Bulgarian embassy is the reporting party in the document in question.
The highly influential Manchev is suspected of crimes related to the Russian Rosatom nuclear power plant initiative in Bulgaria. The plant has been on ice for the past five years, partly due to the rumours of criminal acts.
Manchev and his company, Risk Engineering, has often been cited on opaque business methods.
Manchev is suspected, among other things, of forging environmental reports. Tankosic – who represents the Worley Parson consultancy – is suspected of the same in connection to the Belen plant.
Tankosic is an administrator at Worley Parson. In June, the company was tied to the Fennovoima's Hanhikivi project in the capacity of a consultant. Worley Parson collaborates with Rosatom and offers construction permit consultancy services to the Pyhäjoki nuclear plant deal.
Fennovoima management says it was unaware of the board member's connection to Manchev.