Court Rules Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Should Return Saragyol to State

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha will have to return to the state the mountain chalet Saragyol, a Sofia court has decided.

The decision has come a week after the same court issued a similar ruling regarding another property claimed by Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgaria’s former prime minister (2001-2005) who was the country’s child king before the monarchy was overthrown in 1946.

The Sofia District court has ruled that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister Maria-Louisa should return into state ownership the chalet in the Rila Mountain on grounds it was built on state land, 24 Chasa daily reported late on Friday.

The court also rejected the claim of the Regional Development Ministry that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister should pay BGN 15,000 each for using the chalet without legal grounds.

The court has decided that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Maria-Louisa owe no compensation for using the property which was restituted to them in 2002 by the regional governor of Sofia District.

The ruling was issued on August 28, 2014 and can be appealed at Sofia Court of Appeal.

Last Sunday, dariknews.bg reported that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was going to appeal an earlier Sofia District Court ruling that requires him and his sister to hand back to the state the royal residence Tsarska Bistritsa and pay compensations of BGN 140,752 each as well as interest of BGN 80,000, for using the residence without legal justification from March 2006 to March 2011.

Simeon, having reigned with regents 1943-1946 (aged 6-9) after the death of his father King Boris III, was sent into exile following a controversial referendum held in 1946 that proclaimed Bulgaria a republic.

He returned to Bulgaria in 2001 and founded a liberal political party called National Movement Simeon II, later renamed to National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, which won the general election held the same year.

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