Photo: Shumen Municipality
Retired police officers and military personnel occupy 60% of the positions in the municipal enterprise “Economic and Security Activities” in Shumen. Former cops “hold” the entire management of the company – the director, deputy director, caretaker, driver, technical organizer, and even the supplier are retired military personnel who now receive salaries from the municipality. Several dozen more former police officers and military personnel are among the regular security guards at municipal facilities (mainly nurseries, kindergartens, and schools). A total of 44 positions in the enterprise are occupied by retirees from the army and police. This is clear from data provided by the Shumen Municipality in response to a question from independent municipal councilor Petar Petrov about the number of retirees in the administration.
There is also a significant “police presence” in the Shumen municipal cleaning company. There, seven people, including the deputy director, a department head, and two inspectors, are retired police officers. “Instead of morning briefings, they do drill training,” joke civilian employees about the two “militarized” enterprises.
However, pensioners from the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of National Defense are not only employed in municipal enterprises, but also in the municipal administration. The secretary of the municipality, two chief experts directly subordinate to Mayor Hristo Hristov, as well as the director of the civil registration department are former police officers and military personnel.
A total of 63 pensioners from the state security structures work in the municipality of Shumen.
The large number of retired police officers appointed in the municipality of Shumen can be explained by the biography of Shumen Mayor Hristo Hristov, who is a former long-time employee of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the military police. According to municipal councilors, this is a worrying trend, as it “militarizes” a purely civilian administration.
However, in Shumen Municipality, it is not only the number of former police officers that is growing, but also the number of pensioners in general. Already, over 20% of employees in the mayor’s administration and municipal enterprises are pensioners who receive both a pension and a salary.
There are 159 pensioners out of a total of 779 employees in the municipal structures.
“This percentage should be much lower,” commented municipal councilor Petar Petrov at a session on December 18, when the topic was discussed in the hall. According to Petrov, the administration should attract young people, and only proven experts should be allowed to continue working after retirement.
In response, Mayor Hristo Hristov explained that he had “inherited” a large number of working pensioners in the municipality. He pointed out that at the beginning of his term, he had dismissed many of the pensioners and competitions had been announced for their positions, but no candidates had come forward. “There are currently competitions, and we are waiting for young people to apply,” said the mayor. Many of the municipal positions for which specialists are sought are advertised with low starting salaries, and understandably, there are no candidates for them. At the same time, there are also highly paid specialists in the administration, which means that remuneration is a matter of internal organization. Mayor Hristov pointed out that if he dismisses all working pensioners and there are no candidates for their positions, this will block the work of the municipality.
Only 14 employees in the municipal administration are under the age of 30
This is shown by information from the municipality. At the same time, there are 55 people aged 50 to 60 in the mayor’s office, and another 59 over the age of 60.
The situation is even worse in municipal enterprises, where there are almost no young people. There is not a single employee under the age of 30 in the construction and improvement company.
