MAYOR OF PLOVDIV IVAN TOTEV SUSPENDED FROM OFFICE

Plovdiv Regional Court ruled on 16th of January to suspend from office Ivan Totev, the mayor of Bulgaria’s second largest city of Plovdiv. The request was made by Sofia prosecutor’s office with the motive that Totev might interfere with the pre-trial investigation.

On 10th of January, Sofia Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against the Mayor of Plovdiv, Ivan Totev, over malfeasance in office which resulted in damages to the municipality to the amount of 1 million BGN.

The prosecution alleged Totev that in 2014 he violated his official duties in relation to a procurement for the construction of a zoo park in Plovdiv.

Allegedly, he did not meet the requirements of the existing legislation on public procurement and directly negotiated with the contractor “Zapryanovi 03 ltd”. Moreover, the prosecutors say that the procedure was carried out without an approved conceptual development project at the time of its opening and had not been approved in terms of quantity. A permit to build had not been issued. These legal requirements were not met at the time of concluding of the contract for the construction of the zoo park - Plovdiv with the contractor - "Zapryanov 03" LTD.

Earlier, municipal councilors from the Patriotic Front said that they were going to report a signal to the chief prosecutor about violations of the Law on Public Procurement concerning another construction project – the Colodrome in Plovdiv. The Public Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA) has also submitted a signal about that project. According to the Patriotic Front, a check identified 22 violations in 3 of a total of 13 procurements.

In response, Plovdiv municipality said that the check made by the Public Financial Inspection Agency finished but no act of infringement was issued.

Ivan Totev’s lawyer said he would appeal the court’s ruling on the suspension.