Comment by Alexander Detev:
The money from guardrails leaked to a black money box that financed Delyan Peevski's flights and paid rent to Vladislav Goranov. This was announced by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev at a briefing with the participation of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, the head of the National Security Agency Plamen Tonchev and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Lyubomir Nikolov.
How Peevski's flights collided with guardrails
The topic of guardrails became particularly popular following several tragic road accidents, after which experts indicated that the quality of the fences did not meet standards. Public accusations of long-standing corruption and embezzlement of funds have emerged.
Peevski's flights, on the other hand, came into public focus after information was released by the Ministry of Interior in early summer that the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms had flown over 200 times in the last eight years, with most of the flights being carried out on a private plane. Demerdzhiev said at the time that Peevski had flown with businessmen, as well as with constitutional judge Desislava Atanasova, who he later denied.
Now the two topics are intertwined in the given press conference. "Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined that the orders for guardrails could be related to Peevski's flights," Demerdzhiev said.
The value of the flights was over 5 million euros, and they were not listed in Delyan Peevski's annual declarations, it became clear at the briefing. The company to which the funds were diverted has no real activity, the interior minister also claims.
"An extremely interesting aspect of this case is that the company that paid these expenses is owned by the father of the Bulgarian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. So the question arises whether the reason for this diplomat to be appointed to this position is not precisely these actions committed by his father's company," Demerdzhiev pointed out.
Rumen Radev announced that he expects a quick procedure to recall Ambassador Ivan Yordanov.
Vladislav Goranov from GERB also accused
Demerdzhiev stated that four companies were being investigated, which according to him hold a monopoly over the installation and maintenance of guardrails in Bulgaria. One of them is related to Vladislav Goranov - a GERB MP, former finance minister and, like Peevski - sanctioned for corruption by the US. "He, you see, is renting out a property to one of these companies. He is the landlord. Quite by chance, they most likely found each other somewhere along the route in the economic space. Mr. Goranov decided to rent out his property to one of these companies for a considerable sum," Ivan Demerdzhiev pointed out.
Delyan Peevski broke his months-long media silence and appeared before journalists in parliament, where he denied the information. "All this is fiction, another episode of "Demerdzhiev Pictures", said the leader of the MRF.