The large-scale lawlessness in the "Baba Alino" area has raised serious questions about the deafness of the control bodies over the years.
"Kotsev is passing on his sins"
According to the former mayor of Varna Ivan Portnich, the accusations by the current mayor Blagomir Kotsev are an attempt to divert attention from his own responsibility.
Portnich is categorical that the issued certificates of tolerance in no way permit or legitimize the construction activity.
"Construction in its entirety began after my term there. From the first sessions of the Municipal Council, we as councilors have been asking the question of what is happening there and on what grounds. Unfortunately, during all this time Kotsev did not respond even once. ", commented Portnih to "Denyat ON AIR".
Portnih added that Kotsev himself seized state land in the heart of the Sea Garden with illegal sites and parking lots, which makes him unable to stop someone else's illegal construction.
The role of the "Primorski" district and the powers taken away
The former mayor explained in detail the structure of issuing the documents in question, categorically defending the actions of GERB in the past.
He pointed out that the chief architect of the "Primorski" district has held his position since 2005 and is a civil servant with absolutely no political affiliation.
Ivan Portnykh recalled that back in the summer of 2023, his administration demonstrated complete "intolerance to tolerance certificates".
Then, together with the then chief architect of the municipality, the powers of the district architects to issue such documents were completely revoked.
The former mayor emphasized on the air of Bulgaria ON AIR that he personally fired the previous chief architect Buzev precisely because of the signing of such certificates, but the current mayor Blagomir Kotsev brought him back to work in order to try to legalize family hotel complexes through him.
Attempt to legalize through PUP a few days before the scandal
According to him, the "KUB" corporation submitted a request for a PUP in April 2024, and Kotsev signed its approval with an order in January 2025.
"In the case of illegal construction, it is absurd to proceed with the development of a PUP – this is a crime. 10 days ago, at the last meeting of the Expert Council for Spatial Planning (ESUT), Kotsev tried to adopt this plan in order to legalize the whole thing. It was not adopted solely because of the huge scandal and the intervention of municipal councilors.", he commented.
Jump from 20 to 104 illegal sites
Ivan Portnykh rejected Kotsev's claims that he did not know about the scale of the construction. He presented statistics according to which at the beginning of 2025 there were 20 sites, and by May 2026 there were already 104.
"How did 104 sites emerge between 2025 and 2026, and he did not see and did not understand? There is written evidence that Kotsev personally interrupted and temporarily stopped construction there. How do you temporarily stop something that you claim you do not know about?", he asked.
Portnikh concluded that construction control is entirely the personal responsibility and authority of the mayor of the municipality, who also bears criminal liability for this.
He called on the prosecutor's office to deal with the case immediately, defining it as "the biggest crime of illegal construction on a national scale".