At the end of last year, the mayor of the capital region "Ilinden" Emil Branchevski announced that he was leaving the coalition "We continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria - Save Sofia" and will continue as an independent district mayor. Now two district mayors of the "We continue the change" (PP) in Sofia, as well as two municipal councilors from the formation, have announced that they are leaving the party due to systematic pressure for "manipulation of public procurements, percentages and redirection of funds to the party coffers". We are talking about the mayors of the two largest districts in Sofia - "Lyulin" and "Mladost", respectively Georgi Todorov and Ivaylo Kukurin, as well as for the municipal councilors Dimitar Shalafov and Dragomir Dragomirov. What is happening in the Sofia Municipality… Emil Branchevski, mayor of the “Ilinden“ district, spoke to FACTI.
- Mr. Branchevski, what is happening in the Sofia Municipality? District mayors are leaving, and the mayor Vasil Terziev claims that he does not know what is happening. Is this possible?
- Yes, it is entirely possible that he does not know, but it is also equally possible that it was coordinated with him. I can only guess. The future will tell.
- Municipal councilors and mayors of “Lyulin“ and “Mladost“ left “We continue the change“. What processes are underway in the Municipality?
- There is no way I know the internal party intrigues in “We Continue the Change“, I have never had anything to do with them. I was from “Save Sofia“. The Sofia Municipality is undergoing a process of complete disintegration of the coalition that won the elections, and it is a matter of time before this happens.
- You left “Save Sofia“ because of disagreement with their policy. How is the capital governed by the union between them and “We Continue the Change“?
- The governance of the capital is at a standstill. There has been no adopted budget for half a year, which actually blocks the work of the district mayors. Instead of joint work in the name of the city, we see a closed circle of party interests, internal agreements and administrative inaction.
- You claim that “We Continue the Change“ are behind the artificially created case with „Sugar Factory“. How did this happen?
- Kiril Petkov personally came to me at the district administration and exerted pressure not to remove illegal buildings, even though they posed a risk to people's lives and health. I do not know his motives for this. If he had not intervened, all people would have been accommodated in the order originally planned. This was not social policy, but political pressure with a clear goal - creating tension through which to seek control and influence.
- You say that you were subjected to direct pressure from a political leader. Who?
- From Kiril Petkov. There was also pressure from Marin Tikhomirov, a candidate for deputy from „We Continue the Change“.
- You are talking about a model of dependence and behind-the-scenes. What interests are being pursued through the district mayors?
- There is no way to talk about dependence in other political parties I am not commenting because I do not have such information. I have only commented on the behavior of Boris Bonev while I was part of „Save Sofia“, but this is a completely different political party and my motives for leaving are different from the motives of my colleagues from „Lyulin“ and „Mladost“.
- The mayors of „Vitosha“, „Lyulin“ and „Mladost“ are now independent. Does this mean that the others are dependent?
- I cannot speak on behalf of my colleagues. Each mayor bears personal responsibility to the citizens who elected him. I can only stand behind my words and actions.
- Public procurement - is this the „sweet piggy bank“ that everyone is striving for?
- Public procurement has always been of interest since the time of the Tsars – this is clear to everyone. My interest is the public interest and therefore the principles of equality, transparency and competition are important to me.