A study by the Institute for Road Safety shows that the Minister of Transport and Communications has not fired a single employee of the General Directorate of Automobile Inspection (GDAI) due to corruption, as he claims in his recent public appearances. The Minister is not the employer of the employees in the GDAI and does not have the authority to terminate their employment relationships. This is reported by the Institute for Road Safety and adds:
The IPB received copies of the orders for dismissal of the "corrupt" individuals named by the Minister. They state Art. 325 para. 1 item 12 of the Labor Code, which applies when amending the job description (transformation of the staff). Currently, structural changes are being made in the Executive Agency “Automobile Administration“ (IAAA), as a result of which employees on an employment contract must be transferred to state staff.
The dismissal orders do not contain any motives or evidence related to corrupt activities or abuses by the affected employees. Our inspection showed that none of the ten dismissed employees was subject to an inspection, disciplinary proceedings or investigation on charges of corruption.
Minister Karadjov indicated in an interview that one of the employees had seven disciplinary penalties in the past, but he kept silent about the fact that another of the dismissed employees was awarded for refusing a bribe. This raises reasonable doubts that the restructuring of the staff at the IAAA was used as a tool to cover up the inaction of the political cabinet and the agency's management.
Over the past nine months, the minister's team has not implemented an effective policy to combat corruption. This is evidenced by the contradictory public statements and the constantly changing information provided by the minister himself. His statement that he "immediately fired 10 corrupt officials" not only does not correspond to the facts, but can also serve as a serious argument in favor of the dismissed in possible legal disputes, since the minister has intervened in a labor process in which he has no authority.
His desire to defend the inaction of the IAAA management contradicts the stated position that he fires even in the presence of only verbal signals of corruption. In recent days, there have been numerous verbal signals of mismanagement and lack of action by the management of the IAAA - signals that have not been followed by any reaction.
We are currently witnessing the biggest corruption scandal in the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) in recent years, which has also gained international resonance. Despite this, no political responsibility has been taken.
All of the above shows that the management of MTC does not have the legitimacy to lead a real fight against corruption in the IAAA. Public trust has been irretrievably lost.