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MEPs: Bulgaria bought construction and agricultural machinery at inflated prices
Bulgaria has bought construction and agricultural equipment at inflated prices using money from EU funds. In addition, the work of the judicial system and the Prosecutor’s Office remains a problem, as well as abuses in public procurement. This is a small part of the conclusions of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control, representatives of which were on a visit to Sofia over the past three days.
In Bulgaria, EU funds have been used to buy road construction equipment, the cost of which has been deliberately inflated several times.
"These are things that are repeatedly mentioned in the European Commission's audits - in general your roads may be very cheap, but if the project is financed by EU funds suddenly the price becomes high," said Tomáš Zdechovský, chairman of the delegation.
Agricultural machinery was bought at prices that were 30 to 50 percent higher, Zdechovský explained. He commented that a simple Google check of what the actual prices were could have guided the authorities in the country if they had doubts.
"The problem in Bulgaria is the lack of investigation, the lack of prosecutorial action, and this has been a problem for a long time," said Sophia in't Veld of Renew Europe.
The MEPs have also looked into the case of guesthouse fraud.
"The funds from the European Union that have been misused were recovered in the European budget from the Bulgarian budget and all the beneficiaries who have benefited in this unlawful way from this money have been given to the NRA for enforcement," said Andrei Novakov from the EPP.
"It pains us to hear this, the aim is to get the money back from those who really misused it," said Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel, Greens/EFA.
MEPs will come up with a report. They have met with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, MPs and representatives of the Prosecutor's office.
"It's not our job to lecture anyone, we are just trying to get a general idea of how things stand at the moment, where we are, and what reforms are being implemented. In the end, we have to rely on the Bulgarian system to do its job, it turned out that the weak link is in the judicial system and the Prosecutor’s Office", explained Tsvetelina Penkova, C&D.
During the visit, the MEPs were also acquainted with the Barcelonagate case, but did not give details.
What information has the Public Prosecutor's Office received on the "Barcelonagate" investigation?
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