European Public Prosecutor's Office brought charges of fraud related to a public procurement for trolleybuses in Vratsa

The European Public Prosecutor's Office in Sofia has filed an indictment with the Sofia District Court against the manager and owner of a company suspected of fraud in a public procurement for the acquisition of trolleybuses for the municipality of Vratsa. The project is valued at 4.5 million euros (8,838,308 Bulgarian BGN).

The case concerns a public procurement for the purchase of nine electric trolleybuses for urban transport in the municipality of Vratsa. The project is funded by the European Cohesion Fund, as part of measures to reduce air pollution. The beneficiaries of the project are the Municipality of Vratsa and the municipal public transport company.

During the public tender, to secure the contract, the defendant declared that the trolleybuses were manufactured by a Polish company. However, evidence shows that the trolleybuses were purchased from a Belarusian state-owned company, which later became subject to EU sanctions. The Polish company declared liquidation shortly after the public procurement procedure was concluded.

The investigation revealed that the trolleybuses were sold at nearly twice the original acquisition price paid by the contractor.

If found guilty, the suspects could face prison sentences ranging from 2 to 8 years, according to the Bulgarian law.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office reported that the investigation began after a private individual submitted a tip to the institution. None of the responsible national authorities had detected or reported this case. During the investigation, the European delegated prosecutor faced an unprecedented situation, where the requested measures, authorized by the Bulgarian court, were only partially implemented by the responsible police authority, the Luxembourg prosecutor's office said.