The Municipality of Silistra has signed two new contracts for fuel delivery since the beginning of 2023 with the company “Bent Oil” AD, which is linked to Mladen Mihalev – Madzho. This is indicated in the municipality’s profile in the registers of the Public Procurement Agency.
For the selection of the fuel supplier,
a procedure of “negotiation without prior announcement” was chosen according to the Public Procurement Act, and the transaction is conducted through intermediaries at the Sofia Commodity Exchange. The municipality justifies the choice of this procedure in the procurement documents by stating that the law (PPA) allows for such negotiation (Article 79, paragraph 1, item 7) when it concerns exchange-traded goods listed by the Council of Ministers.
In this case, the principle of competitiveness, which is foundational for public procurement, should have been upheld through the rules of the commodity exchange. However, the manner in which the municipality announces the procurement and concludes the deal suggests that the contractor was predetermined.
The Municipality of Silistra announced the public procurement with an estimated value of 2,960,349 leva on December 2, 2022 (Friday), according to a reference in the auction documentation, while the deadline for submitting bids was set for December 5 (Monday). In other words – the procurement was announced on Friday, and by Monday, it was already concluded with the acceptance of bids.
At the stock exchange session, an offer was submitted only by one company. This led to the conclusion of two stock exchange contracts with “Bent Oil” AD on December 15, and on January 5 of this year, the announcement for the awarded contract was published.
This is not the first public procurement for which the company wins contracts through the “negotiation without prior announcement” procedure, and in practice, there is no competition in fuel supplies.
The municipality has been working with the company since 2014, when the first supply contracts with the firm were established. The most recent three-year delivery period and the corresponding contracts with the same company are from 2018 to 2022, as indicated in the “Profile of the Buyer” section on the municipality’s website.
The delivery period for fuels for the Municipality of Silistra
under the new contracts is three years, starting from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025.
The first contract signed for 2023 includes deliveries for refueling the municipal vehicles and municipal enterprises, while the second covers fuel supplies for heating the buildings of the municipal administration, mayoralties, and kindergartens.
The contract for refueling the municipal vehicles is valued at 1,192,946.40 leva including VAT and is for estimated quantities of unleaded gasoline – 151,580 liters and diesel fuel – 254,756 liters.
The unit price for unleaded gasoline A95 in the contract is set at 2.66 leva per liter, and 3.10 leva for a liter of diesel fuel, as of December 15, 2022. The deliveries include refueling vehicles of the municipal administration, the mayoralty of the village of Kalipetrovo, kindergartens and nurseries, the municipal enterprise “Obredi,” the municipal enterprise “Drastar,” the regional waste depot, and others.
The contract for fuel delivery for heating is valued at 2,080,729.30 leva including VAT and includes fuel deliveries for the municipal administration, mayoralties, kindergartens, the indoor swimming pool, and the municipal dormitory “Mladost.”
Nominally, “Bent Oil” is managed by Dimitar Radev, but public data reveals the connection of “Bent Oil” with Mladen Mihalev. This information is available in the data from the insurance company “Asset Insurance” in the commercial register. In the reference for the company regarding the beneficial owner (according to Article 63, paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Measures Against Money Laundering Act), Dimitar Radev is recorded as holding 99.5% of the shares of “Vilet” AD. In turn, “Vilet” AD owns 99.99% of the shares of “Bent Oil” AD, which holds 43.20% of the capital of the insurance company “Asset Insurance.” The last two companies are registered at the same address.
Also on the board of directors of “Asset Insurance” is Yoanna Mihaleva, the daughter of Mladen Mihalev.
tenure of Mayor Yuliyan Naydenov, the insurance company entered into contracts for mandatory insurance of the municipal building stock, as well as group insurance for employees at the Regional Waste Depot in Silistra.
a project is underway in the city for the construction of water and sewage infrastructure, known as the “Water Cycle,” with the contracting authority being VIK – Silistra. The part of the project in the city, valued at 8 million leva, is being executed by a consortium with the primary participant “Elite Building Company.”
This company is owned by Ivo Dikov,
who is the son-in-law of Mladen Mihalev. The partners in the company’s activities also include both “Bent Oil” AD and “Asset Insurance” AD.
Another project with EU funding amounting to millions, executed by a company publicly linked to the founder of the organized crime group, who is originally from Silistra, is the project for building a network of bike lanes with bike parking. The contractor selected by the municipality for two tenders related to the project, “ITD Group” EOOD, is owned by Ivan Drashkov Jr., the son of the former Deputy Chairperson of DANS, Ivan Drashkov. Notably, the company is also one of the founding shareholders of the insurance company “Asset Insurance,” established in 2014, as shown in the Commercial Register.
