Following final decision No. 6524/17.06.2025 of the Supreme Administrative Court and issued writs of execution, Varna Municipality is obliged to pay the owners of a land property the amount of 2,745,891.81 leva due to the inaction of the Chief Architect of Varna Municipality in 2020.
The conviction was imposed under the Law on the Liability of the State and Municipalities for Damages, according to which the state and municipalities are objectively liable for all damages, direct and immediate consequences of unlawful acts, actions or inactions of state and municipal administrative bodies. The court's decision overturns that of the Administrative Court - Varna of 20.12.2023, which is in favor of the Municipality of Varna.
According to the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, the unlawful inaction of the Chief Architect of the Municipality of Varna consists in the fact that in 2020 he did not submit a copy of the effective Building Permit No. 66/05.05.2020 for an apart-hotel in the residential complex "Briz-yug". He did not do so within the statutory period, but nearly a year later. The owners of the property, in which there is already a built object, are the companies "Todor build 2006" EOOD and "Znamenata" EOOD. They are also plaintiffs in the proceedings against the Municipality of Varna. The court accepted that due to this delay they received a reduced amount of compensation from the contractor of the site.
After Varna Municipality pays the amount, it will file a recourse claim against the Chief Architect on the basis of Art. 101, para. 1 of the Civil Servant Act (CSA), according to which civil servants are liable for the damage they have caused intentionally or through gross negligence to the state or citizens through unlawful actions or omissions in or on the occasion of the performance of their official duties.
The acting mayor of Varna Municipality Pavel Popov called on Viktor Buzev to resign from the position of Chief Architect.