Bulgarian State Indifferent to Trial over Bulgaria Road Controversy

The former head of the state-owned National Road Infrastructure Fund Vesselin Georgiev, who is being tried for corruption, must be pleased to have the Finance Ministry on his side. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian state showed on Wednesday a surprising unwillingness to claim compensations for the damages that the former head of the state-owned National Road Infrastructure Fund, who is being tried for corruption, has inflicted.

Vesselin Georgiev is charged with awarding contracts worth tens of millions of levs to companies run by two of his brothers. The controversy that led to the freezing of the EUR 723 M earmarked to improve Bulgaria's dilapidated roads broke out following an investigation by the newspaper Kapital. Georgiev resigned from his post under pressure from the media.

The Finance Ministry was to file a claim during Wednesday's hearing, setting the amount of compensations it will seek, which it inexplicably failed to do.

The oversight leaves the state with the only option to launch civil proceedings against Georgiev only after he has been found guilty on charges of corruption.

 

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