The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating the municipality of Plovdiv on suspicion of fraud in a public procurement related to the improvement of the city's green and public spaces. The object of the inspection is the renovation of the building of the municipal enterprise "Chistota" during the last term, when Zdravko Dimitrov was mayor, BNT recalls.
The public procurement was worth almost 3 million leva. 59% of the amount was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. In statements from the European Public Prosecutor's Office, they also indicated that in the case there is an allegation of abuse of office in the period 2022-2023 by former officials of the municipality, but no names are given. Yesterday, for hours, investigators, with the assistance of the General Directorate of the "National Police" were conducting searches in the Plovdiv Municipality building, in the former party house, which also houses municipal directorates.
“I heard from the media, no one has called me yet. I am also not sure what this is about, I know that they are checking the orders of “Chistota”, former mayor Zdravko Dimitrov told BNT and added that he is not worried: “No, we have taken many orders, many projects have been started, many projects have been completed since the mandate.”
Comment in camera about the investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office was refused by both representatives of the current and previous municipal administration.
Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov said yesterday that he does not know what is happening, and the former manager of the company “Chistota” Dimitar Georgiev stated by phone that funding did not go through the municipal cleaning company and that no control was exercised by them. According to the investigation, the manager and the legal representative of the contractor are suspected of having submitted false documentation with inflated quantities and prices.
In early July 2024, municipal councilors from Plovdiv filed a report with the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the reason being suspicion that money from loans and municipal funds was used to make a "paper repair" in the building of the "Chistota" company. However, the municipal councilors have no information as to how much yesterday's action in the Plovdiv Municipality by the European Prosecutor's Office is related to their reports.