The consortium for representation of Bulgaria has received over BGN 4 million, but it “forgets” both the virtual realities and documents about the goods sold at our stand
700 pages of evidence and testimonies about the scandalous performance of the Bulgarian state at the world exhibition EXPO 2020 in Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister Cornelia Ninova brought to the National Assembly on Friday.
The object of the report is the work of the consortium with which Bulgaria has signed a contract. The data on violations were already there
at the prosecutor’s office.
According to Ninova, that was the case
a typical example
for “arrogance
of people who are
consider
untouchable,
and continue to be considered as such. “
In 2018, the Council of Ministers decided that our country will participate in the world exhibition “EXPO 2020” in Dubai, for which the state allocates BGN 4.8 million.
The public procurement was held on June 5, 2019, when the Minister of Economy was Emil Karanikolov. Its estimated value is BGN 6,840,000 with VAT, which is BGN 2,023,700 more than the approved financing in the amount of BGN 4,816,300 with VAT.
The increased estimated value was approved by Karanikolov on the basis of financial estimates that the funds allocated by the government are not enough to participate in the exhibition. According to the signal submitted to the prosecutor’s office, part of which “24 Chasa” has,
in the ministry
of the economy
however, there is none
audit trail
to submit a proposal to the government to increase funding.
On August 20, 2019, by a decision of Karanikolov, the consortium DZZD “Bulgaria Expo 2020” was appointed as the executor of the public procurement. This decision was appealed by a participant in the procedure, but after a ruling of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC), confirmed by the SAC, preliminary execution of the decision to appoint a contractor was allowed. Subsequently, however, the CPC decided that the decision was correct.
The contractor was determined on the basis of the most economically advantageous offer and on December 13, 2019 a contract was signed with him. The participants in the consortium are “Project Management Advisors”, “Arka LTD”, “DOF”, “Ciela Norma” and “Infinity Travel”.
“That is, even at the start there is a suspicion of violation and increase without grounds of the amounts of over BGN 2.2 million,” said Cornelia Ninova. A contract has been concluded with the consortium and more than BGN 4 million are being transferred in advance – an amount against which Ninova says that the state has not received any guarantee, and as of today it turns out that
30% of
commitments
they were not
fulfilled
or have been replaced.
In addition, the guarantee provided to secure the advance funds is only 50%. This creates a risk that the state will lose the remaining money.
There was a requirement for design, logo, transport of Bulgarian exhibits, daily program in the pavilion, staff, etc. There are no advertising and information materials, welcoming guests with food and drinks are not fulfilled. The list of companies that should have been presented there has not been observed and they have been replaced by others, “Ninova said.
The goods, despite the prices approved by the Ministry of Economy, are sold there by 30% more, said the Minister of Economy. No handover protocols have been signed for the goods delivered to the shop of the pavilion, nor have receipts been drawn up for reporting the cash payments from their sales. In addition, the pavilion sells goods that have not been approved in advance.
According to the signal, there is no innovative playground for children, which turns the energy from play into light, a model of the first Bulgarian plane and other things.
Almost all the activities that were supposed to represent the country have not been implemented
have been replaced,
without being
notified
the contracting authority
In the special area for the presentation of Bulgarian nature, for example, where a virtual walk through forest paths and an interactive presentation on the shores of the Ropotamo Reserve had to be provided, the presentation was without virtual reality. Historically Bulgarian buildings have also been projected on white walls without interactive content. The headphones did not work at the stand for Bulgarian music.
According to unofficial information, the organizers of the exhibition were also extremely dissatisfied with our performance and even sent a non-verbal protest note that the image of the exhibition was damaged due to unfinished parts of our pavilion, cash sales and other violations.
The consortium was repeatedly asked for reporting documents and information on the spending of the provided funds, but they were not provided. The ministry has carried out several on-site inspections in Dubai, as well as internal inspections.
A report was never received, as the correspondence did not go, because the address of a company that does not participate in the consortium and belonged to a Greek citizen was submitted, Ninova explained.
According to the document available to 24 Chasa, the company is Tehremont EOOD, and a reference in the Commercial Register shows that its manager is the Greek Ioannis Giofkos.
The sole owner of the capital is another participant in the consortium – “Project Manager Advisors”, which holds the largest share of 50% in the union. Its owner is Yuliana Shtishkova.
At the moment, the company has claims to be paid the BGN 2 million in question for the “unfinished work”, according to Ninova, apart from the BGN 4 million already paid in advance. However, the Minister has stopped the payments.
It is also clear from the document that although the consortium has stated that it will not outsource activities to third parties, it has done so. The Ministry of Economy has an address for correspondence, which turns out to be that of Techremont. At the same time, its manager Giofkos dealt with the cultural program of the Bulgarian pavilion.
Cornelia Ninova also stated that she was one of the witnesses in the case
it already was
threatened
to withdraw his testimony.
“He received a phone call to withdraw his testimony. I want to tell you – it will not happen, what has started will happen to the end. You will not stop us. I have stopped payments and not a penny will sink into this black hole. We keep their guarantee of 50%, which they have paid, the remaining 50% will be sued, “Ninova told lawmakers.
Galina Raycheva, director of the consortium:
The state does not cooperate with us, there was no one to raise the tricolor
The director of the consortium, Galina Raicheva, admitted that there was indeed a problem in communication with the Ministry of Economy, but she was not with the contractor.
“We have repeatedly written unanswered letters about events that were not attended by official state delegations. For the day of Bulgaria, which was set for us on February 9, no representative of the state came, there was no one to raise the Bulgarian flag, “said Raycheva.
She was appointed director of the consortium on October 6 last year, which coincides with the opening of the exhibition. According to her, reports have been submitted regularly since then, and on the day Ninova sent the signal to the prosecutor’s office, the contractor submitted a large report, accompanied by evidence and photos of the activities carried out.
Bulgaria Expo 2020 did not receive assistance from the director of the Bulgarian pavilion Dimitar Dimitrov, who is also the head of the Bulgarian Trade and Economic Affairs Service in Dubai. His explanation is that he cannot sign without the permission of the Ministry of Economy.
In addition, Dimitrov was the only person who had access to the bank account of our pavilion in Dubai. It also pays the companies that sent their goods on consignment, which, however, did not happen. This was also written to the ministry, but without an answer. Therefore, it was necessary to borrow funds from the companies participating in the consortium. Techremont was one of the companies that helped with the payments. Raicheva admitted that the company performed technical activities at our exhibition, but did not know how the company’s participation was arranged before Raicheva took office.
The office of Bulgaria Expo 2020 was located in the same building where Techremont is located, so this address was submitted to the Ministry of Economy.
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