Mayor of Bulgaria's Pazardzhik Faces Corruption Accusations

In the period between 2007 and 2014, over 5,000 deals connected to selling of municipal properties and assets at prices lower than the market ones have been contracted in Pazardzhik.

The statement was made by municipal consul Rumen Petkov, representative of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in an interview for bTV Thursday.

He deemed the financial deficit of the municipality severe, as the assets amount to BGN 20-22 M, while debt rose to BGN 30 M during the term of office of mayor Todor Popov. Petkov explained that a number of signals have been submitted to the Pazardzhik Police and Prosecutor's Office on account of suspected offenses in tenders connected to municipal assets. He explained that in many cases tenders have been conducted with only one participant, eventually winning the contract or at prices significantly lower than the market ones.

Todor Popov, a municipal councilor of center-right ruling party GERB, noted that the signals received by authorities ''create suspicions and prerequisites for poor future practices''.

Meanwhile, information was released in national media regarding the property owned by Popov - a BGN 1,5 M mansion located in the village of Tsrantcha. Suspicions rose on account of the mayor's declared gross annual salary of BGN 24,000.

Image of the property owned by Todor Popov Photo: btv news

Pazardzhik's mayor subsequently distributed a public statement, in which he explained that he will be gathering evidence in his defense on the case to be presented in the upcoming weeks. 

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