The previous owner of PFC “Pirin“ Georgi Kalpakchiev transferred the club's shares to veteran Miroslav Mitev. This happened at an extraordinary meeting of the economic commission of the Municipal Council in Blagoevgrad, BTA reported.
The meeting was convened to hear Kalpakchiev and discuss the process of transferring ownership. He took over the management of the club in May, but at the end of August announced that he was stepping down due to the inability to provide the necessary financing and cover the accumulated debts on his own.
In recent weeks, representatives of the municipality, veterans and the club's management have been holding talks about the future of “Pirin“. Miroslav Mitev expressed his readiness to acquire the shares on behalf of a group of veterans, and in the meantime, opportunities for securing additional financing were also discussed.
Attorney Teodor Toshev, who represents the veterans group, indicated that negotiations with Kalpakchiev ended on September 24, but the official transfer has not yet been completed.
Kalpakchiev confirmed the information, but revealed that in the meantime a French investment fund has approached him with a desire to invest in the club. According to him, this is the fourth potential investor that has shown interest in “Pirin“ within the last four months.
Mitev also announced that the veterans group has a potential investor from the United States. He specified that the investor will not insist on participation in management or acquisition of shares, but is ready to support the club through donations under a contract for a period of five or ten years.
The “Pirin“ veteran stated that the group is ready to immediately begin work on repaying the debts. According to him, the debts to the National Revenue Agency amount to about 205 thousand euros, and the club also has financial obligations to former and current football players and coaches, as well as to the Bulgarian Football Union.
Mitev also commented on the team's sporting condition, defining the current results as “catastrophic“. He noted that in the 104-year history of “Pirin“ the club has not allowed a series of 11 consecutive losses.
Miroslav Mitev stated categorically that the veterans are ready to take the initiative to unite the club, fans, the public and the municipal leadership and to begin immediate actions to stabilize “Pirin“.