Bulgaria Court Again Postpones SAPARD Fraud Trial

Mario Nikolov, who is accused of misuse of EU funding, used the postponement of the case against him and his co-defendant, to address the media. Photo by BGNES

Sofia City Court has again postponed proceedings in the trial of Mario Nikolov and Lyudmil Stoykov, charged with document fraud and misuse of SAPARD funds.

The new postponement was decreed on Thursday, as one of the defence lawyers failed to turn up in court, being involved in another case in Burgas.

Defendant Mario Nikolov used the situation to speak to the media.

"Maybe the "umbrella" over the case against me is in the opposite direction - for us to be sentenced as soon as possible,"" he said, referring to Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov’s recent critical remarks about the trial.

Regarding the recent suggestion by Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov that the case might be transferred to Germany, Nikolov said he has not yet been summoned as accused in that country and he could not see how he could be tried there.

Asked by a journalist how he explained ""the nervousness of the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Deputy Prime Tsvetan Tsvetanov, that this case does not end," Nikolov replied that "obviously somebody does not wish to reveal the objective truth".

He said he was convinced that ""those who have lodged the case in court, have no interest in the revelation of the truth".

Nikolov and co-defendant Stoykov, who were both sponsors of President Parvanov’s campaign at the last Bulgarian presidential election, face charges relating to the alleged defrauding of SAPARD European agricultural funds to the tune of EUR 7,5 M. They, and other defendants, received funding of EUR 14 M for fraudulent projects in the period 2002-20005, according to the charges brought against them.

The legal process was provoked by revelations of the European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF, according to which the Bulgarians belonged to a group of 60 Bulgarian, foreign and offshore organization that had links with the previous government, led by Sergey Stanishev, and had participated in tax fraud and money laundering.

The public remarks made by both the Prime Minister and his Deputy while the SAPARD case was ongoing provoked a furious response from the judiciary, who accused the politicians of prejudicing the legal process.

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