Mismanagement Charges Pressed against Former Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov, from Borissov -2 cabinet, was charged with mismanagement in relation to an investigation which started in January, the prosecutor’s office said on 9^th of May.

Mitov is accused of signing disadvantageous contracts with service providers arranging the business trips of Foreign Ministry staff.

Instead of conducting a tendering procedure under the law on procurement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed two agreements with the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods and by virtue of these agreements used the services of a company through the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods. The Ministry of Agriculture and Foods had a contract with this company on the basis of a conducted tendering procedure for provision of air transport, hotel accommodations and medical insurances in business trips of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods.

Last week, mismanagement charges were pressed also against Hristo Angelichkin, Mitov’s former deputy. At the start of the investigation, he explained that they had to resort to this measure because public tendering procedure took a long time and according to him, “the most travelling” ministry was left without a company for arranging the business trips.

Mitov said that such agreements were signed in order to have a contractor to fulfill these services while the foreign ministry was carrying out the public tender, which was delayed. He commented that this was a standard practice in the public admnistration and that such agrements had been signhjed by other government agencies too.