A check by the prosecutor's office has begun in the Municipality of Nessebar, the Regional Directorate for National Construction Control (RDNSK) and the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIOSV) in Burgas. The checks are related to the investigation into the death of the four victims in the resort complex “Elenite“. What is happening in the municipality of Nessebar after the tragedy … Krastyo Peev from the Nessebar Public Council speaks to FACTI.
- Mr. Peev, will it become clear who is to blame for the disaster that befell “Elenite“ and the four victims who died there? Many institutions have already spoken, but ...
- We all hope for this. Finally, to see justice and the rule of law. In the municipality We have known for years that Nessebar is governed by a junta that is on the verge of legality.
- What have these events shown now?
- These tragic events of the last few days have shown the entire country what the reality is in the municipality of Nessebar. Many institutions are starting to explain what it is, how it happened over the years and how everything was almost great, and yet the river is built up. How does this happen? We are falling into this Bulgarian phenomenon of collective irresponsibility.
- We have heard many positions from institutions...
- Yes, the institutions are working in a state where they are simply passing the ball to each other. Everyone has done their job to some extent and somewhere there is something small that has not been continued after that. For example, we can look at the Basin Directorate. They say: “We notified the prosecutor's office.“ We don't know what the prosecutor's office did. “It is up to us OK.“
We see the Minister of Regional Development who says: “The Municipality is…“ and so on.
But each of these institutions at some point did something that led to the development of Elenite.
- Which institutions are responsible?
- We have the Ministry of Agriculture with the privatization, when forests were privatized. We have the Cadastre service, which has marked a plot of land on the cadastral map in a place where a river passes.
- Yes, the river disappears at some point, as they say from the “Balkanka“ association. Parts of the river disappear and become plots of land. And this already gives grounds to activate completely different procedures…
- But we also have an agreement between the institutions. When one institution has not done its job, another follows. So there is an agreement from the Basin Directorate — when an investment intention is sent to the municipality, they let it go to the Basin Directorate. The Basin Directorate has to say that it cannot, because a river passes there. The municipality should not issue a Detailed Development Plan (DDP) and the chief architect should move the documentation forward. So many institutions have not done their job here. But, in the end, when a construction project starts, there are several very important signatures, without which it cannot continue.
- What are these key signatures?
- The most important signature of all for the Elenite resort is the mayor's. The other extremely important signature is the chief architect's. The other important signatures are the municipal councilors'. Most often, the project first goes through the Territorial and Urban Planning Commission (TSU). This commission has a chairman, the documentation is collected, it is moved forward and finally the point is voted and is in the archive.
- What do you think will happen from here on?
- The first institution that is very important to do its job is the DNSK. We believe that the regional directorate - RDNSK - Burgas, is not capable of investigating the municipality of Nessebar. We can prove this with documentary evidence from events in 2025.
Our hope is in the DNSK at the state level - they will do their job, to establish the construction in the ravine, the canals, the pipes, the concrete troughs.
All this must be established. After which it is the turn of the prosecutor's office - to establish who signed what. They may not bring all the culprits together, but let those whose signatures are in the documents be held accountable.
- But we also heard, that there are no documents after 2005, because more than 10 years have passed…
- If there are missing documents somewhere - and this is grounds for responsibility, because it is not an excuse that “the dog ate them“.
- How do you view everything that is happening…
- There is a very worrying fact that is beginning to crystallize in Nessebar society. Namely, that the mayor Nikolay Dimitrov and the chief architect Valentin Dimov continue to work. The question is - are they not hindering the investigation? If there are important documents in the municipality, can they disappear? If there are employees, can they be pressured? Therefore, the procedure provides for these people to be at least temporarily removed. And another thing... The chief architect Valentin Dimov is retired, but with a backlog of cases - Dunigate, the infamous mill, the ancient fountain, sold architectural monuments... These are dozens of cases. It is high time that this chief architect was dismissed from work, at least temporarily, so that he does not hinder the investigation.
- Do you expect quick results?
- To be honest, things started to come out quite quickly. You see - A few days ago, the regional minister threw a “grenade” at the Nessebar municipality, saying that the signatures were there. The next day, the director of the Basin Directorate – Black Sea region, said that they had not issued construction documents. They had filed reports with the prosecutor's office. Slowly, slowly, we are narrowing the circle. All roads lead in one direction.
- And the investor?
- Of course, the company is offshore, with a foreign citizen, probably insolvent. But at least the officials who are elected to protect the public interest — for them, it should be clarified who stands where and what they are doing.
- What happens next if there is no action?
- The Nessebar public is starting to get nervous about this situation. We are going into protest mode. If the institutions do not take action, we will most likely block the work of the municipality — we, the citizens.