Participant in vote buying for DPS in Gurkovo in the last few years spoke to “For the Truth” about schemes that he claims are organized by the mayor of the town, Mariyan Tzonev, and his son Georgi.
This occurs six months after Stoycho Stoykov, known as Yogata – a prominent local businessman, was shot in the back at his establishment in the “Predela” area in the Hainboaz Pass. The date was October 1, 2022 – a Saturday, on the day of reflection before the regular presidential elections and early parliamentary elections held at that time. Half a year later, the perpetrator and the instigator (if there is one) of the crime have still not been identified.
Whether Stoycho Stoykov – Yogata is connected to his recent involvement in the schemes of the Tzonevs – father and son for buying votes during elections, or if the attack against him was carried out for other motives, remains to be seen in the investigation. This investigation has continued for over six months without results, which is not unprecedented in the work of the police and prosecutor’s office in Bulgaria. Stoycho is awaiting justice. Following the bullet in his back and the serious surgeries, he claims that he has “seen the light” and has come to the painful realization that, in his own words, he has been a puppet in the hands of the mayor and his son for years. Now Stoycho Stoykov – Yogata has evidently decided to put an end to this chapter of his life.
And the checks on his business begin – from the National Revenue Agency, from the Regional Health Inspection, from customs, "from whichever institution you can think of."
As by journalistic ethics, we sought out the mayor of Gurkovo to discuss the concluded elections, electoral manipulations, and vote-buying, and in this context, the attack on Stoycho Stoykov. Mariyan Tzonev declined an interview, arguing that the elections were over, as were the pre-trial proceedings against him. Additionally, he claimed that he could not trust journalists who were “motivated” by their publications against him.
Unlike of Gurkovo, Kolyu Atanasov detailed how he was beaten by Stoycho Stoykov on October 21 of this year in the center of Gurkovo, in front of his wife, with whom he had no prior conflicts. After several blows that left Stoykov’s face disfigured and a two-year suspended sentence that he received, Yogata apologized multiple times to Atanasov for the injuries and stress caused. His outburst of uncontrollable rage, as he explained to our camera, was a result of the manipulative insinuations from the Tzonevs – father and son, claiming that Kolyu Atanasov was the instigator of the shooting against him.
Probably because he rejected the mayor’s offer for peace and because he does not remain silent about the electoral fraud in the municipality, after the beating, Atanasov received threats from Venelin Stoilorov – the son of Dimitar Stoilov – Chakmaka, one of the “heroes” in a report by Valya Ahchieva. His notebook is filled with names and various amounts next to each, likely for payments during the local vote in 2019. Venelin supposedly threatened to beat the entrepreneur for his audacity to go to war with the “Tzonev empire.”
Context
The two criminal plots in Stoycho Stoykov’s narrative cannot be understood outside the context of the social environment and climate created by Mariyan Tzonev, as well as his management style and working methods.
Mariyan Tzonev was elected mayor by DPS and was voted into office with the party’s votes in the last local elections in 2019. In two years, according to Yogata, he and his son Georgi have managed to instill “fear” in the people, surrounding themselves with a ring of companies and armed private security. The Tzonev family house in the center of the small town at the foot of the Hainboaz Pass is referred to by locals as the “Dogan Palace.”
On eve of the early parliamentary elections in July 2021, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office indicted Mariyan Tzonev for vote-buying.
The crime under Article 167, paragraph 2 of the Penal Code, for which the legislator prescribes imprisonment of up to six years and a fine ranging from ten to twenty thousand leva. Moreover, the testimonies of witnesses with concealed identities included individuals from the central and regional leadership of DPS, who were involved in the electoral schemes for vote-buying, sources tell “For the Truth.”
In video interview, Stoycho Stoykov recounted that he was present at a roadside meeting between Georgi Tzonev and a former DPS deputy, now the deputy mayor of Pavel Banya, who handed a large sum of money to the mayor’s son for electoral transactions.
Roma from Gurkovo confirmed in a report to “For the Truth” that during the April 2021 elections, they were coerced by the mayor to vote for DPS in exchange for 50 leva, which Tzonev personally distributed in the ghetto.
This also occurred with the promise to legalize the illegally constructed houses of its residents. The same happened in the local elections of 2019 when the DPS candidate became mayor with the votes of the Roma. At that time, a key part of his campaign was the illegal connection of the ghetto to the water supply network, after which water flowed into every house without being metered or paid for.
Investigation Against Mariyan Tzonev and His Reaction
A pre-trial proceeding against the mayor of Gurkovo was initiated as early as March 2021 after numerous reports were made to the police and the prosecutor’s office regarding the electoral schemes organized by the Tzonevs – father and son – for the upcoming parliamentary elections in April of that year. This also involved the forced registration of Roma from the neighboring Sliven municipality of Tvarditsa, who provided their ID cards in exchange for 20 leva. In addition to the Roma, among the registered individuals – over 500 people in Gurkovo and the surrounding villages – there were also workers from companies close to the Tzonevs.
However, it is evident that this was not sufficient grounds for the prosecutor’s office to remove the mayor from his post.
This allowed the mayor, before the early parliamentary elections in July 2021, to retaliate against the Roma in Gurkovo and crush their spontaneous rebellion against his feudal governance. An investigation by “For the Truth” reveals the stages of the consistent repression by the Tzonevs – father and son – against the Roma. The catalyst for this was the audacity of Rashko Manev – the pastor’s brother and an influential person in the community – to ask the mayor why he had forgotten his promises and why he was not helping the people in the ghetto who had fallen into trouble. As a warning that he had audaciously raised his head and voiced opposition,
the mayor and his son brutally beat Manev on May 23, even attempting to cut out his tongue.
Carettes and alcohol without stamps have been searched for and not found, while the mayor has ordered a municipal cleaning company not to empty the overflowing containers in front of his establishment at Predela. “Tomorrow they will come up with something else, and the pressure on me will continue ‘until they take me out,’ ” fears Stoycho, using a phrase from mafia jargon.
The young Roma man and his wife filed complaints against the two, which they later withdrew, threatened that their house would be demolished. To withdraw their statements to the authorities, Stoycho Stoykov drove them to Sofia in his personal vehicle at the mayor’s order.
A action followed, resulting in the water supply to the ghetto being cut off just days before the July elections, during the summer heat and in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Just one day after the complaint was filed with the Water and Sewerage Company in Stara Zagora, and with the assistance of the police and prosecutor’s office, the Roma residents were swiftly “left high and dry” for nearly a month.
In October, again before the subsequent early parliamentary elections in November 2021, all Roma individuals who voluntarily filed reports against the mayor for extortion and for paying for their votes in favor of DPS recanted their testimonies before a judge. They shifted their statements against Kolyu Atanasov after Mariyan Tzonev threatened to sue them for perjury.
During investigation, Stoycho Stoykov – Yogata and Dimitar Stoilov – Chakmaka claimed that Kolyu Atanasov both threatened them and offered them 5,000 leva to testify against the mayor. Later, Stoycho admitted that he had given false testimony against the businessman under pressure from the mayor of Gurkovo. Additionally, the written statements of Chakmaka differed from those he made during his confrontation with Atanasov.
Results
At the beginning of 2022, the investigation against the mayor of Gurkovo was terminated by the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office due to a lack of evidence of a crime, and the pre-trial proceedings were sent back to Stara Zagora for further investigation.
The follow-up investigation must determine whether the over 500 registrations of residents from the Tvarditsa municipality in Gurkovo are genuine and personally completed by the applicants or are forged, and by whom. After the elections concluded on April 4, 2021, a commission involving a lawyer from the regional administration and a prosecutor conducted the deregistration of these individuals at the Civil Registration and Administrative Services in Gurkovo.
This or another investigation must establish whether Kolyu Atanasov incited the Roma to file complaints against Mariyan Tzonev and his son. To date, the businessman has been questioned multiple times in the investigative department of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office and by an investigator in Stara Zagora.
Thus, in the end, the mayor of Gurkovo has a “washed” image, while the businessman who reported his schemes remains the subject of investigation. Such a turnaround does not seem absurd within the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office led by Ivan Geshev.
In a request submitted under the Access to Information Act to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Stara Zagora by “For the Truth,” we inquired about the status of the pre-trial proceedings against Mariyan Tzonev. After asking for clarification regarding “vote buying” and during which elections this occurred today (March 12 of this year), we received a response from the prosecutor’s office stating that according to “data from the unified system of the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office, no charges have been filed against Mariyan Tzonev as of April 11, 2023.”
The story is still unfinished for our media, at least until it becomes clear how the investigations against the businessman from Gurkovo, Kolyu Atanasov, will conclude and what needs to be determined about who shot at Stoycho Stoykov – Yogata and why. He stood in front of our camera with his name and face, recounting how “Bulgarian-style elections” are conducted in small towns, especially in their Roma ghettos.
