Both deny receiving any benefits
KPKONPI sent the materials to the prosecutor’s office, they will also go to Koveshi
The mayor of Vratsa Kalin Kamenov and that of Stara Zagora Zhivko Todorov are the top municipal officials who received property benefits in order to select certain contractors for public procurement for the supply of electric buses in the cities, learned “24 Hours” from those familiar with the investigation.
With its decision on Wednesday, the anti-corruption commission sent the results of the inspections to the prosecutor’s office. This has already happened in the same case in Varna. A month ago, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office referred them to the European Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Laura Coveschi, because 85% of the money came from Brussels.
The materials from the investigation for Vratsa and Stara Zagora are expected to follow the same path.
The inspection in Vratsa began on December 14, 2021 due to two public procurements worth a total of BGN 32 million. One is for the supply of 9 trolleybuses, and the second – for 13 electric buses. They were won by the same contractor – “Auto Engineering Holding Group” Ltd.
“It simply came to our notice then
received
non-following
property benefit,
as well as violations in the delivery of trolleybuses – the parameters explicitly stated in the technical proposal and the specification to the concluded contract have not been met “, reads the announcement of the anti-corruption commission. As a result, vehicles that were not the subject of the public procurement and were manufactured by a Belarusian state-owned company were put into operation without it being established whether they meet the regulatory requirements for vehicles in the EU.
“I have not yet got acquainted with the decision of KPKONPI,” the mayor of Vratsa Kalin Kamenov told 24 Chassa. And added that
everyone can
to lift
charge, but
it proves itself
in court
“Neither I nor anyone in the municipality has benefited from these deals, as the announcement suggests. Once again, I declare that I have worked only in the interest of the people of Vratsa “, Kamenov is categorical.
Two weeks before Vratsa KPKONPI entered the municipality of Stara Zagora for two orders. One is for 55 new diesel buses of high ecological class for BGN 35.6 million, and the other – for 33 electric buses for BGN 49 million. The winners of the orders for the diesel buses are Czech and Polish companies, and for the electric buses it is Bulgarian. .
The investigation showed that Zhivko Todorov is
exceeded
your powers
and has proved
impact
in the preparation and conduct of public procurement in order to determine a specific participant for the contractor, for which he received “non-following property benefits.” The statement of the commission of Sotir Tsatsarov does not specify whether it is money, property or other.
“I am surprised by this announcement, but I am absolutely calm. Let the prosecution do its job. I believe that everything written in the message of KPKONPI will be completely refuted. I think that in this case we are working with suggestions – if indeed in this case there is evidence of illegal actions committed by a person holding a senior public office in Stara Zagora, let this person be named specifically by his name. Because now everyone can interpret the message as they wish. I have said before, we provide full assistance to the inspectors, we will continue to provide, and the truth will come out, “said the mayor of Stara Zagora.
The first completed investigation of the anti-corruption commission for the supply of electric buses was for Varna. There, a contractor was appointed for BGN 85 million for the supply of 60 new public transport vehicles. The inspectors entered the municipality on November 18 and handed over the materials to the prosecutor’s office 12 days later. The data are about corrupt behavior of a person holding a high public position in order to win one of the candidates. The mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih did not comment on the completion of the inspection and its sending to the prosecutor’s office. They said the case was referred to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to assess whether it would be investigated there.
The cases in Varna, Stara Zagora and Vratsa are identical, specified by Tsatsarov’s commission.
– .
