Contracts for road repairs totaling 2 million BGN (excluding VAT) were signed literally in the 59th minute before the change of power in the small Shumen municipality of Nikola Kozlevo. This was revealed by a journalistic investigation into public procurement organized by the local mayoral administration.
For two terms, from 2015 to 2023, the municipality was almost solely managed by mayor Eshref Redjeb from GERB, who turned it into one of the symbols of “feudal power” in Deliormana, where mayors literally hold “both the knife and the bread.”
Throughout both of his terms, Redjeb held a complete majority in the local parliament through the GERB’s proxy group, and together with his family, which possesses considerable wealth, he wielded not only political but also economic and institutional power in the area, where no public sector appointment occurred without his consent.
A telling example of Redjeb’s influence was the parliamentary elections in April 2021, when an entire village in Deliormana voted with preferential votes for one of the candidates on his party’s list. At that time, out of 401 ballots cast for GERB in the polling station in the village of Vŭlnari, a remarkable 400 were in favor of Ilter Beyzatov, the son of the notorious former Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) activist and former head of “Palamara,” Beyzat Yahya, who had migrated to GERB.
At of July 2023, just two months before the end of his second term, Eshref Redjeb was removed from his position due to proven conflict of interest and a ruling from the Supreme Administrative Court that had entered into force. Meanwhile, nearly two years had passed from the establishment of the violation to the termination of his mayoral powers.
As early as 2021, the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPKONPI) accused the mayor of Nikola Kozlevo of conflict of interest after discovering that for years he had been paying from the municipal budget to a family-owned company managed by his two sons. As a result, the Anti-Corruption Commission imposed fines on Eshref Redjeb amounting to 10,000 BGN and ruled that he should return the sum of 88,862 BGN. Redjeb appealed the Anti-Corruption Commission’s decision in all judicial instances, and the court cases dragged on for almost two years, nearly until the end of his term.
The battle for Eshref Redjeb’s retention in office was fought until the last moment and on all possible fronts. After all judicial “resources” were exhausted, the municipal election commission in Nikola Kozlevo intervened, first failing to convene a meeting regarding the case for two weeks, and then scandalously refusing to comply with the court ruling and terminate the mayor’s term. The chairperson of the commission, Desislava Hristova, appointed by the quota of the mayor’s party, GERB, even stated that they were not obliged to adhere to the decision of the Supreme Court.
The intervention of the Central Election Commission became necessary, which issued clear guidelines on the case, and finally, on July 27, 2023, Redjeb’s mandate was officially terminated, and a temporary acting mayor was appointed until the local elections on October 29. Local politicians and municipal officials unofficially commented that every day was crucial for Eshref Redjeb to finalize what he had started, including ongoing public procurement.
In fact, even after his removal from office, Redjeb did not lose his influence in the municipality and unofficially pulled the strings within the administration. His former subordinates even hesitated to remove his name from the door of the mayor’s office, and the acting mayor did not take a seat at Redjeb’s desk, remaining in his own office. It was expected that the governance of the Eshrefoglou family would continue through Eshref Redjeb’s son, Redjeb Veli, who was running for the position from the National Movement for Rights and Freedoms (NDP).
However, the local elections brought a real surprise—right from the first round, the mayoral post was won by the family Eshrefoglou’s opponent, the young and previously unknown Ismail Ibraym, nominated by the unusual local coalition of DPS and BSP.
The Price of Inaction
Meanwhile, during the period of administrative limbo from the elections until the new mayor assumes office, the municipality of Nikola Kozlevo managed to organize a public procurement for 2 million BGN (excluding VAT) for the asphalting of four village streets, evaluate the participants, and select a winner in the tender. They even signed a contract with the chosen company two days after the elections, while the new mayor had yet to take the oath.
The public procurement is part of a project for the reconstruction of the street network in the municipality of Nikola Kozlevo, funded by the Rural Development Program 2014–2020. The tender was conducted in four distinct positions for four streets in the villages of Pet Mogili, Vŭlnari, Hŭrsovo, and Nikola Kozlevo. The repairs on each of the village streets will cost around half a million BGN, and the warranty for the new asphalt, according to the contract, is two years.
The public procurement was announced on July 11, and the decision to select a contractor was made on October 12, during the month-long pre-election campaign for the vote on October 29, while the municipalities were managed by temporary mayors. A municipal commission, appointed by the deputy mayor of Nikola Kozlevo, Ivan Ivanov, selected the same construction company for all four positions.
All four tenders were won by the Shumen company “Avtomagistrali Chernomorie,” which received the maximum total score of 100 points from the commission in all four positions. The other admitted participant in the competition, Raster-Yug Ltd, came in second in all four bids with a total score ranging from 97.2 to 98.6 points.
However, prior to this, two other construction companies—Varna’s “Odesosstroy” Ltd and Shumen’s “Pътища” AD—were removed from the tender. Both have experience in construction; the first has been operating for 20 years, and the second for 15.
Both construction companies applied for all four positions in the public procurement but were disqualified by the examination committee at the “technical documentation” level. Some of the reasons for their removal sounded strange, to say the least. For example, that the participant “did not clarify the sequence and interrelation of the individual activities during construction work.” For instance, the schedule for cleaning the construction site did not match the schedule for temporary road signs, which the committee deemed an insurmountable violation.
The Newly Elected Mayor of Nikola Kozlevo Seeks a Revision of the Previous Administration
Thus, the election commission awarded all four positions to the Shumen company “Avtomagistrali Chernomorie.” On October 31, 2023, the municipality signed four contracts with the selected contractor. This occurred two days after the elections, which made it clear that Nikola Kozlevo would have a new mayor, and a week before Ismail Ibraym was to take office. Ibraym was sworn in as mayor on November 6, 2023.
Here are the four contracts signed between the municipality of Nikola Kozlevo and the company “Avtomagistrali Chernomorie”:
- For the reconstruction of Vasil Levski Street in the village of Pet Mogili, valued at 421,649 BGN (excluding VAT)
- For the reconstruction of “Hristo Botev” Street in the village of Vŭlnari, valued at 348,939 BGN (excluding VAT)
- For the reconstruction of “Nikola Vaptsarov” Street in the village of Hŭrsovo, valued at 548,028 BGN (excluding VAT)
- For the reconstruction of Hristo Botev Street in the village of Nikola Kozlevo, valued at 427,921 BGN (excluding VAT) or 513,000 BGN (including VAT)
According to the contract, the municipality must pay the contractor an advance of up to 50% of the amounts. Therefore, at an extraordinary session on December 6, the municipal council voted to withdraw a short-term loan from the “Agriculture” fund exceeding 1 million BGN for the advance payment to the contractor—891,000 BGN for 50% of the construction contract and another 180,000 BGN for VAT payments.
According to the contract, the advance payment to the contractor is to be made within 30 days after the construction site is opened, and the timeframe for completing the construction is 77 calendar days.
Newly elected municipal councilors commented that they were faced with a completed fact with the signed contracts.
In the same manner, the cleaning of streets in the municipality of Shumen was also contracted, which had been governed by a mayor from GERB for the previous two terms. At the end of October, just days before the elections, the municipality selected the same company, “Avtomagistrali Chernomorie,” for summer and winter maintenance of streets and roads for the next three years, with a contract value of 15 million BGN.
However, during the first significant snowfall in November, the sidewalks in the city remained icy and impassable, as it turned out that the snow removal contract included only the street surfaces, but not the sidewalks themselves.
Shumen Mayor Hristo Hristov, faced with serious public discontent due to the difficult conditions in the city, stated that he would conduct a thorough review of the contract clauses. A review of already signed contracts is also being prepared in Nikola Kozlevo, especially since there are concerns regarding other contracts with the same construction company.
