The comfort of the municipality of Shumen is becoming increasingly expensive, as shown by the contracts for so-called information services concluded by the mayor of Shumen, Hristo Hristov, with various contractors. While five years ago the cost of media services for the municipality was just over BGN 20,000, now the same service will cost the municipality BGN 107,750.
This is the price agreed in the contract with Svetoslav Kantardzhiev, manager of the pro-government website PIK. On September 16 this year, the municipal administration signed a contract worth BGN 24,000 with his company, Sasanidi AD. The subject of the contract is “publishing press releases or PR publications” for a period of 12 months. The mayor of Shumen, Hristo Hristov, probably decided that the website, described as Delian Peevski’s “media mouthpiece,” is now “official” and can provide stable media comfort for his administration. A check by “Za Istinata” shows that after the contract was signed, PIC published harmless PR information – about a cooperation agreement with a city in Armenia, the number of tuberculosis patients in Shumen, and an upcoming military oath in the presence of the prime minister.
The information about Shumen’s “information service” contracts was provided by the mayor of the city, Hristo Hristov, in response to a question from municipal councilor and chairman of the culture committee, Ventsislav Venkov. The question about the administration’s media contracts is included as the first item on the agenda of the upcoming session on October 30.
Currently, the municipality of Shumen has a total of 11 information service contracts, including two for information campaigns on European projects, Hristov said. However, the contract with PIK is not the largest, according to his response.
Surprisingly, the Dobrich-based PR company Symetric Communication tops the ranking, receiving a total of BGN 48,000 from the Shumen Municipality for “subscription media services.” Traditionally, annual contracts for the same service with Shumen media outlets were worth around BGN 3,000, or BGN 250 per month. The contract with the Dobrich-based company was signed on December 6, 2024, and is for a period of 12 months.
Another substantial contract worth BGN 15,000 was signed for “consulting services” provided by Brave Solutions. Its manager, Georgi Gyuzelev, is the sole owner of the capital of Ruse-based Anons Media Group. The contract with Gyuzelev was signed on July 30, 2025, for a period of five months.
The next contract is with the Sofia-based company Fest Production EOOD, owned by Elena Anderson. The contract was signed on August 14, 2025, with the subject “media coverage of the cultural calendar of the municipality of Shumen” and is worth BGN 8,250 for a period of 12 months.
On May 9, 2025, the municipality of Shumen signed a contract for BGN 5,000 “for the publication of press releases and the preparation of a supplement with the newspaper 24 Hours.” The contract is for nine months, and the contractor is 168 Hours EOOD.
At the bottom of the “ranking” are contracts with three Shumen-based companies. On August 19, an information service contract worth BGN 2,500 was signed with News M, publisher of the Shmoko website. The contract is valid until the end of the year.
On the same date, an information service contract worth BGN 2,500 was signed with Za Shumen EOOD, backed by Plamen Georgiev, the man who closed down the regional daily Shumenska Zarya and sold off the newspaper’s assets due to debts accumulated during his management, including to journalists.
Also in August this year, an information service contract worth BGN 2,500 was signed with Mreja za aktualni novini EOOD.
In his responses to municipal councilor and chairman of the city’s culture committee Ventsislav Venkov, the mayor of Shumen cited two contracts for information campaigns on municipal projects, which, however, are not directly financed from the local budget.
Contracts for so-called media services in Shumen continue to be concluded by decision of Mayor Hristo Hristov, as was the case with his predecessor Lyubomir Hristov. The opinion of the councilors on who and what contract should be concluded has never been sought, and no criteria for awarding contracts have been announced, even though back in January 2024, Venkov asked the administration to present at least to the commission its media strategy and the contracts it would conclude with the media. Almost two years later, the councilors and Venkov still do not know what and to whom the mayor is paying for “media subscriptions” and only learn the facts if they ask the administration a specific question.
“Over the past two years, media service costs have risen sharply, and we don’t see what we’re getting in return. We do not understand the criteria for giving a company 48,000 levs, which is two salaries of 2,000 levs each, meaning that two people must work continuously for the interests of the Shumen Municipality. And where is their output, what have they done for Shumen?” commented Ventsislav Venkov, stating that he would raise the issue again in the session hall.
Venkov recalled that last year he and a group of advisors from Cause Shumen strongly opposed the use of taxpayers’ money to finance media outlets that act as “bludgeons.” “And now there are such contracts, with the difference that there is more money for the media,” Venkov said, commenting that the website “Anons.bg” had interfered in the local election campaign with publications against advisors from his group. “I was very surprised that PIK also joined the media landscape. The same goes for BG.plus TV, which serves the media calendar, whatever that means. At the next meeting of the commission, I will request information on what has been done for Shumen in return for the money we pay. We want clear criteria on how media “consultants” are selected and what we get in return for taxpayers’ money,” said the chairman of the Shumen Commission on Culture and Media.
