As early as June 2024, illegal construction was established in the "Baba Alino" area near Varna, where today there are over 100 buildings without the necessary construction documents. This was stated on bTV by the acting head of the Directorate for National Construction Control (DNSK), Georgi Darakchiev.
According to him, a joint inspection of the DNSK, the “Primorski“ region, the Regional Forestry Directorate and the Economic Police found the violations almost two years ago.
“Illegal construction was found at a very early stage. Orders to stop and subsequent orders to remove this illegal construction should have been issued,“ said Darakchiev.
According to him, the authority for this was with the Municipality of Varna, since these were constructions of the fifth and sixth categories.
During the first inspections in 2024, there were significantly fewer buildings in the region.
“About twenty buildings were found. Since then, the scale of construction has grown significantly,“ explained Darakchiev.
He added that after the initial inspection, signals and instructions to take action were sent to the municipality, but construction continued nonetheless.
According to Darakchiev, some of the buildings received tolerance certificates issued in 2023.
He explained that such a document can only be issued for constructions built by March 31, 2001, which meet certain legal requirements.
“The tolerance certificate is not a construction permit and does not legalize the building. It only certifies a certain status of an already existing construction,“ he emphasized.
According to him, about 20 of the buildings in the complex are covered by such certificates.
Among the issues that the institutions are yet to clarify is how electricity and water supply were built in the area, given that the buildings have no construction permits.
“Infrastructure inspections have been carried out and documents have been requested from the operating companies. At the moment, it has not been established that it is illegal“, explained Darakchiev.
By order of the Minister of Regional Development, the DNSK is starting a comprehensive inspection of all tolerance certificates issued on the territory of Varna Municipality from the beginning of 2023 to the present.
“We will check whether this is an isolated case or whether there are other similar practices“, said Darakchiev.
He added that orders to stop construction should be issued for the buildings in the complex, followed by removal procedures.
“These orders are subject to judicial appeal and only after they enter into force can the demolition of the buildings be started“, specified the acting head of the DNSK.