A case concerning the return of unlawfully received subsidies is at the heart of the recent conflict between the mayor of Tutrakan Municipality and the only bus operator, which led to the threat of suspension of school transport and transport on main bus routes in the municipality, including the Tutrakan-Varna route.
A post by Tutrakan Mayor Dimitar Stefanov, published on his Facebook profile in early November, revealed that the transport company T.A.T. EOOD had notified the mayor of Tutrakan Municipality that it was discontinuing transport on certain routes, as well as transport for students from nearby villages.
A dispute over obligations between the Municipality of Tutrakan and the carrier turned out to be the reason for the conflict
In connection with the actions taken by the carrier, meetings were held in the municipality to resolve the crisis, including the announcement of a new public tender. At that time, the manager of the company, Plamen Nikolov, commented to “Za Istinata” that the reason for the refusal to operate the routes was the municipality’s seizure of the company’s accounts due to the company’s obligations to the municipality, but he specified that the municipality also had obligations to the company, which were much larger.
A few days later, the mayor of Tutrakan posted a new message on his profile stating that an agreement had been reached with the transport company and that it would continue to fulfill its contracts.
However, the public was not informed about the nature of the debts that had caused the transport crisis.
The debts in question are related to subsidies and a lawsuit brought by the municipality against the transport company.
From the information we received from the municipality of Tutrakan under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) regarding the grounds for imposing the lien and the amount of the debts between the transport company and the municipality, it is clear that this is a commercial case won by the municipality for subsidies unlawfully received by the carrier under three contracts from 2019 in the amount of BGN 56,530. In addition to this amount, the carrier was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings in all three courts before which the case was heard.
A post by Tutrakan Mayor Dimitar Stefanov, published on his Facebook profile in early November, revealed that the transport company T.A.T. EOOD had notified the mayor of Tutrakan Municipality that it was discontinuing transport on certain routes, as well as transport for students from nearby villages.
A dispute over obligations between the Municipality of Tutrakan and the carrier turned out to be the reason for the conflict
In connection with the actions taken by the carrier, meetings were held in the municipality to resolve the crisis, including the announcement of a new public tender. At that time, the manager of the company, Plamen Nikolov, commented to “Za Istinata” that the reason for the refusal to operate the routes was the municipality’s seizure of the company’s accounts due to the company’s obligations to the municipality, but he specified that the municipality also had obligations to the company, which were much larger.
A few days later, the mayor of Tutrakan posted a new message on his profile stating that an agreement had been reached with the transport company and that it would continue to fulfill its contracts.
However, the public was not informed about the nature of the debts that had caused the transport crisis.
The debts in question are related to subsidies and a lawsuit brought by the municipality against the transport company.
From the information we received from the municipality of Tutrakan under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) regarding the grounds for imposing the lien and the amount of the debts between the transport company and the municipality, it is clear that this is a commercial case won by the municipality for subsidies unlawfully received by the carrier under three contracts from 2019 in the amount of BGN 56,530. In addition to this amount, the carrier was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings in all three courts before which the case was heard.
In addition, it was found that BGN 56,530 in subsidies had been unlawfully paid to the carrier operating unprofitable bus routes in urban transport and transport in mountainous and other areas as of December 31, 2020.
According to the auditors, the carrier submitted false data to the municipality, which is the reason for the payment of higher subsidies than those due for 2020. T.A.T. Ltd. has reimbursed the municipal budget with BGN 13,864.14 in compensation, and the municipality, in turn, has reimbursed BGN 56,530 in subsidies and BGN 14,637.80 in compensation to the central budget in two transfers in 2022. The amount of BGN 13,864.14 is the difference between the amount of BGN 13,864.14 due for 2020 and the amount of BGN 13
In March 2023, the Municipality of Tutrakan filed a commercial case before the Silistra District Court for the recovery of overpaid subsidies from the carrier.
The court-appointed economic expert found that there was no abuse of compensation, but that there were overpaid subsidies in the amount of BGN 56,530 as determined by the Financial Inspection Agency. This was due to the way in which the carrier reported its expenses. The accounting information provided showed that T.A.T. EOOD did not keep analytical accounting records for each type of activity, which is not in accordance with the requirements of the regulation on subsidies for carriers.
The expenses were reported in total for the company’s entire transport activity, without distinguishing analytically between each type of activity, by type of transport service – urban and interurban transport, the court concluded, reaching the conclusion that there was unjust enrichment. The carrier was ordered to return the subsidy amounts of BGN 56,530, together with interest and court costs. Subsequently, two more instances confirmed the decision. Based on the court decisions, enforcement orders were issued in favor of the municipality, and the carrier’s accounts were frozen on November 4 this year.
The manager of T.A.T. Ltd., Plamen Nikolov, told Za Istinata that the amounts for which the company had been convicted had already been transferred to the municipality, which had led to an “understanding” and resolution of the crisis.
The municipality’s obligations
As can be seen from the mayor’s response, the municipality of Tutrakan also has outstanding obligations to the carrier at this time. These are again due to the mechanism for paying compensation and subsidies for two bus transport contracts under the Public Procurement Act of 2024 and two contracts from 2025 and concern services provided by the carrier in 2025.
To date, the Municipality of Tutrakan has received a limit of BGN 173,523.00 from the state, which is to be used to pay compensation and subsidies to the company in accordance with the ordinance. However, the company “T.A.T.” Ltd. has submitted documents to the Municipality for the amount of compensation required, amounting to BGN 489,936.53. So far, out of the nearly BGN 500,000 claimed by the company, BGN 162,527.00 has been paid – BGN 70,958.78 for intra-city transport, BGN 78,203.98 for inter-city transport, and BGN 13,364.00 for the Tutrakan-Varna line.
For 2025, the company has submitted a report on subsidies for intra-city and inter-city lines in the amount of BGN 197,749.91. Of these, subsidies in the amount of BGN 189,729.00 were paid – for intra-city transport BGN 128,880.00 and for inter-city transport BGN 60,849.00.
Despite the disputes between the municipality and the carrier, the company is the only one that has applied to perform the public contracts. It is the only one that has won public contracts for transport in the municipality of Silistra and is, in practice, a monopoly on the market in the region. Accordingly, it receives subsidies for all the lines it serves.
