I have no responsibility for the "illegal settlement" near Varna, he said in "The Day Begins" on BNT, former mayor of Varna and municipal councilor from GERB Ivan Portnih.
"The saga that Blagomir Kotsev tried to play out with the tolerance certificates is truly a circus, an attempt to shift responsibility in another direction and simply divert attention, because the tolerances do not allow and do not legalize any construction."
Portnih doubted the legality of the tolerance certificates and pointed out that they were issued by a regional architect who had been in office since 2004, before the existence of GERB and before his term as mayor of Varna. He denied that during his term of office there was any indication of any construction or information about deforestation in the "Baba Alino" area.
Ivan Portnih, municipal councilor, GERB:
-When they say there is no information, is it not heard or seen there? When they come in to cut down trees, to build some infrastructure, there is no need for anyone to report it. Shouldn't this be visible?
This is what I am trying to tell you, that during my time, during my term of office, there were no such actions at all. I state it absolutely categorically."
Portnih added that he has stopped the possibility of building in the "Baba Alino" area. 10 years ago.
Ivan Portnikh, municipal councilor, GERB: "In 2016, there was a similar development on an even larger scale, with the same terrain included in it. I personally stopped it from proceeding. Then I had to enter the Municipal Council, because it was on a larger scale. And because of the tolerances, I want to explain to you, just to be clear. In 2023, I fired the chief architect Buzev precisely because of such cases, but after the elections, Kotsev brought the chief architect Buzev back to his team and currently continues to be the chief architect."
Portnikh explained that by law, illegal buildings must be demolished:
Ivan Portnikh, municipal councilor, GERB: "But I draw your attention to the fact that there is a mayor of the "Primorski" district, through which the entire PUP passed, who is currently somehow out of the spotlight, who is also from the PP-DB and Kotsev's team, where his direct duty is to control this territory and what was happening there. At the moment, he remains in the shadows, but it is clear that he has been delaying correspondence, information, signals, and so on for years."