The Sofia Metropolitanate accused the mayor of the capital's "Izgrev" district, Delyan Georgiev, of pressure when choosing a company to repair a church. The reason - he publicly called on them to transfer to the church board the one and a half million leva approved by the Sofia Municipal Council in order to continue the construction of the temple.
Iliyana Mavrodieva, legal advisor to the Sofia Metropolitanate, and Mayor Delyan Georgiev speak to bTV.
“The pressure consists mainly in the fact that a condition is set for transferring the funds donated by the Sofia Municipality in full to the account of the church board, on the condition that they cannot be transferred without a signed and approved construction contract“, explained Iliyana Mavrodieva.
And she pointed out that the company “DOKA Stroy“ is proposed as the sole contractor for the construction activities. And over the past two years, the company's main activity has been fulfilling construction orders from the “Izgrev“ region – bTV has verified this information and confirms it.
According to the legal advisor of the Sofia Metropolitanate, the pressure was exerted systematically – in conversations in which an ultimatum was set – “either the funds received as donations will be transferred 100%, or they will be subject to return“.
She was categorical that the Sofia Metropolitanate had received an offer for construction with a sole contractor “DOKA Stroy“. According to her, it was reviewed and it was proposed that the advance payment be with a bank guarantee, but this was not accepted by the company. This happened one day before Dr. Delyan Georgiev's publication on Facebook.
First of all, they received only one offer for a construction contractor – According to Delyan Georgiev, the municipality has sent three proposals.
“This company, which the lawyer of the metropolitanate also talks about, has the best offer in terms of time and price. And it is important to clarify - it is not about any contracts and payments, these are offers, there is a huge difference“, said Dr. Georgiev.
“I am negotiating on behalf of the residents of “Iztok“, “Izgrev“ and “Dianabad“, who have been expecting this church to happen for more than 30 years and I hope that in the shortest possible time all of us, together with the metropolitanate, since I believe that our goal is common, to make this temple work“ he further explained.
And he explained that he had also had personal meetings with representatives of the metropolitanate.
When asked about the activities of the company “DOKA Stroy“ – whose orders in the last 2 years in the “Izgrev“ region were carried out by it, he was laconic:
“I cannot know what this company has done – what and how much it has worked, if they say so – it is so, but from another point of view I can say that the objects that this company has done in the “Izgrev“ region, I am extremely satisfied with them and they are of very high quality“.
The mayor denied having any personal connections with this company, or with any other.