FORMER ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE CHIEF ACQUITTED IN ‘BIG BROTHER AND BROTHER’ CASE

On 30th of April, Sofia City Court ruled on the protracted and high-profile court case, known to the public as ‘The Big Brother and Brother’ case. The court acquitted Vesselin Georgiev, former Head of Republican Road Infrastructure Fund (later transformed into an agency). He was accused of signing contracts in breach of the Law on Public Procurement and thereby benefitting companies related to his brothers Boiko and Emil Georgievi.

The scandal also resulted in the suspension of European funds, worth 160 million Euro, provided to Bulgaria under ISPA and Phare programmes for road building.

In 2010, the case led to the adoption of the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest.

Vesselin Georgiev, ‘Big Brother’, who had been accused of signing 8 public procurement contracts worth 120 million BGN with his brothers, arrived at court today on crutches, but did not explain why. He said that God saved him from unjust sentence after the judge, Petya Krancheva, rejected the five years of imprisonment, which the Prosecutor’s Office had demanded.

According to the ruling, the then Head of the Road Infrastructure Fund had not been the contractor of the deals, because the contracts had been signed by the directors of the district units of the Fund.

The ruling also said that Georgiev’s actions could not be directly linked to the subsequent freezing of EU funds, because the money paid under the 8 contracts came from the state Budget, and not from EU funds.

The Prosecutor’s Office made it clear that they would appeal the court ruling within the 15 days deadline.

The court saga went on for 6 years because the presiding judge was changed three times over the years. The case almost reached conclusion in 2010, but the first of the three judges, Georgi Kolev, left Sofia City Court and became the Head of the Supreme Administrative Court and therefore, it had to be restarted.