The investigation against the mayor of Varna is just beginning. This was announced on the air of the overview program “Position“ on the Bulgarian National Radio by the GERB/SDF MP Branimir Balachev.
He stated that according to the information he has, there is enough material to bring charges against an organized crime group. The MP recalled the strange departure of Dian Ivanov from the post of deputy mayor for “personal and health reasons“ and added that Ivanov was the key person who provided the most solid evidence of a corruption crime:
This is the person who delays PUPs and to whom you go with a specific proposal and then the files move forward. I know that there have been reports from citizens regarding the delay of various projects in the city. There are hundreds of silent refusals, if I may call them, in the person of Kotsev and Dian Ivanov and the people around them, who answer absolutely nothing.
According to lawyer Balachev, Blagomir Kotsev has been monitored for a long time, and the reports are not one and two. When asked where he has such information, Balachev explained that he is a member of the parliamentary committee for combating corruption. According to him, the committee has considered these reports, and they have been sent to the relevant prosecutor's offices and the National Anti-Corruption Commission according to their competence. When asked whether the signals go beyond the case of “Plamenka Dimitrova“ and are about other investigations, Balachev was categorical that this is the case. He announced that he would insist that the FICCI complete the work to the end, so as not to leave a single doubt as to whether the mayor of Varna is guilty or not.
Balachev also recalled that Blagomir Kotsev has a pending case in the Varna District Court in his capacity as regional governor. The GERB MP asked rhetorically whether the 46 thousand leva fee for Dian Ivanov had been forgotten while Kotsev was at the head of the regional administration.
According to the Varna MP, "We continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria" have taken the arrest of Blagomir Kotsev too personally.
He also recalled that the KPK was created at the request of “We Continue the Change“ and “Democratic Bulgaria“. Balachev stated that he personally was against the KPKONPI being divided into two, because “there must be a connection between a crime committed by an official and the relevant financial measures that must be taken with respect to his property, that this is a comprehensive process“. The situation back then, however, was different, explained Balachev. The Prime Minister was Kiril Petkov, and then Nikolay Denkov, the Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov, and no one claimed that the KONPI was a racket.
The GERB MP stated that Varna was being governed poorly while Blagomir Kotsev was the mayor. The sea capital has lost 200 million leva provided by the state in two years, he said, adding 100 million from this year to the 100 million from last year. The money under the 2025 municipal program will be lost similarly to that from 2024, predicts attorney Balachev, since, in his words, the projects presented by the Municipality of Varna are bare applications that are not backed up by serious documentation and expertise. “I have spoken several times with the Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova, and I have insisted that funds be allocated for Varna so that the city can have the look it deserves. The invariable answer is - look at their projects and applications, one is not prepared properly“, explained Balachev.
Balachev gave examples of smaller municipalities that have met the requirements, submitted ready-made project documents and have absorbed the money for them. However, he also agreed that the state is experiencing certain financial difficulties after the Ministry of Finance did not provide funds for the repair of the pipe in the lake and the work on the road section in the "Asparuhovo" – „Galata" quarter.