Valeri Ivanov, manager of the Montana Water and Sewerage Company, has been indicted for crimes committed in office, which prosecutors claim caused the company damages totaling BGN 966,614.09 including VAT. The indictment was filed by the Montana District Prosecutor’s Office.
Ivanov has headed the company since 2006. According to the charges, between 2014 and 2022 he failed to organize and ensure the functioning of an internal financial control system. Prosecutors also claim that sufficient ongoing control was not exercised over the financial commitments under contracts in which the Montana Water and Sewerage Company was the contracting authority.
The charges also allege that sufficient control was not exercised over the employees responsible for accounting for public property. According to prosecutors, this resulted in damages to the company amounting to BGN 852,614.09 including VAT.
Contract for Removing Arsenic from Water
The second case concerns a contract for the delivery and installation of a modular treatment plant for removing arsenic from drinking water. It covers the period from August 25, 2017, to September 2, 2019.
According to the charges, Ivanov deliberately failed to exercise sufficient care in managing the property entrusted to him. The contract was concluded single-handedly, without the conditions for urgency and for awarding a public procurement contract through direct negotiation being present.
The prosecution points out that no preliminary studies were conducted before the contract was signed, and no technological scheme for water treatment was selected. An investment project for a treatment plant was neither prepared nor approved, and no construction permit was issued under the Spatial Development Act.
As a result, the Montana Water and Sewerage Company acquired elements of a treatment plant which, according to the charges, are unsuitable for their intended purpose and unusable in the future. The damages cited under this contract amount to BGN 114,000 including VAT.
“On July 27, 2026, the manager of the Montana Water and Sewerage Company was charged with two counts of deliberate mismanagement under the conditions of a continuing offense,” the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office said earlier.The court is yet to examine the charges. Until a final verdict is issued, Ivanov is presumed innocent.
Sources: news.bg, bntnews.bg