The wife of an expert at the Regional Agriculture Service in Smolyan received BGN 50,000 as a young farmer while she was a municipal employee and in maternity leave
Photo: Otzvuk
The expert in the Regional Agriculture Service and the deputy chairman of the Devin Municipal Council, Velizar Shanov, filed a false declaration of conflict of interest, found a check for “The Truth”. The GERB shot of a Jeep in the area of Valchi Kamak on June 15, in which a woman and a child were injured, did not mention in its Declaration of Property and Interests submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food that it has been chairman of Tourism for years Green Valley Company (TD) – Govren. In it he did not mention the income of the association engaged in activities for private benefit.
The 33-year-old GERB staff starts working in Smolyan under the Career Start program. At the end of 2015 he was appointed to replace in the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, and subsequently to a permanent position, where he is to this day a senior expert in the sector “Registration of farmers”. As a civil servant, he is obliged to file a declaration of property and conflict of interest under Art. 35, para. 1 item 2 of the Anti-Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property Act (CITAI). The documents uploaded to the Office’s website show that in the declarations signed by him – the first on December 7, 2015 and the second – on June 11, 2018, he omitted to enter the fact that he was the chairman of the association active in private benefit – Green Valley Tourist Association – Govren.
Shadow business with NGOs
Shanov’s name came to light after the serious incident, which occurred during one of the unauthorized transportation of tourists to the panoramic sites in the area of Valchi Kamak, managed by the company. The crash struck 14-year-old Dzhaner Yurekliev from Gjovren and 44-year-old Boryana Shutova from Sofia. Tours are made on behalf of the Green Valley Trade Center. “There are really a lot of people who have guest houses and they make tours from their house. Plus, the jeep is personal and anyone can get up to walk where they want. There may be a gap in the legislature. “- said Velizar Shanov to the Smolyan newspaper” Otzvok “, not hiding that there are several more cars that are used to transport to Vulchi kam without taking into account the funds and issuing cash registers.
He is a civil servant, his wife a “young farmer”
Investigation of the regional newspaper “Response” and “For the truth” found that the woman with whom the senior expert in the sector “Registration of farmers” in the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Smolyan lives on a family basis – Darina Ruzhenova, is a beneficiary of agricultural programs with Eurofinance. Until the beginning of this year, the 29-year-old Madanka was an employee of the Smolyan Municipality – Directorate for International Projects, Programs, Public Activities. She was registered as a farmer in 2015 with the subject of activity “Breeding of cattle”.
Darina has applied under Sub-measure 6.1 “Starting aid for young farmers”. A check in the registers of the State Fund for Agriculture shows that during the financial year 2017, the young farmer, who was also in maternity at the time, received BGN 24 447.50 from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the national budget. The data also shows that as of May 31, 2019, 48 895 BGN were paid. Public documents and registers do not show how Darina Ruzhenova managed to take care of the cattle and fulfill her serious commitments to the State Fund Agriculture. , as evidenced by the significant sums she received. Moreover, she was also a municipal employee and in maternity during the same period.
And an umbrella by the District Governor
Velizar Shanov is the only deputy chairman of the Smolyan District Municipal Council, who receives three and a half years salary for his position in violation of the Law on Local Self-Government and Local Administration. The law allows municipal council presidents to receive salaries, but not vice-presidents.
On November 26, 2015, at the beginning of the 2015-2019 term, Velizar Shanov was elected Vice-Chairman of the Devin Municipal Council. At the same meeting, the Rules for the organization of the work of the council were amended, with the deputy chairman being paid a salary of 50 percent of the chairman’s remuneration (in this case 1 080 BGN – BA). At the beginning of December of the same year, due to unlawful provisions by order No. AP-03-14-1064, the Regional Governor Nedyalko Slavov returned the rules for a new discussion. The provisions of the ZMSMA have not been repealed, but Slavov closes his eyes and misses attacking the normative document in court, which is his duty.
Thus, the illegal provisions continue to be in force for more than two years until the beginning of 2018, when prosecutor Stancho Stanchev of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office – Smolyan lodges a protest with the Administrative Court. It turns out that the rules, except for illegal texts, were adopted without public discussion. On 28 February the court annulled it in its entirety. But in the new regulations, adopted on 20.04.2018, the salary of Deputy Chairman Shanov was voted. This time more modest – 30 percent of the salary of the Chairman of the Municipal Council, which according to our calculations is 648 BGN. This time, the Regional Governor Nedyalko Slavov does not even notice the violation of the law.
The calculations show that from January 2016 to June 2018 – for three and a half years as deputy chairman of the municipal council he received unlawfully between BGN 30 and 40 thousand, which caused significant damage to the municipal budget. “At the beginning of the term, we returned the decisions of the municipalities of Devin, Madan and Dospat. They made a correction, later Devin, after repealing the rules, again made a change to determine the remuneration. As a motive, they pointed out that there are many municipalities where the deputy chairman has paid remuneration and contradictory case law, “- said regional governor Nedyalko Slavov before Opening.
The court and the prosecutor’s office are on the move
On Wednesday, in the Smolyan Administrative Court, the case was heard in the protest of the District Prosecutor’s Office against the rules of the Devin Municipal Council, adopted by decision No. 57 on April 20, 2018. Zhivko Chepishev that the legislative act in question adopted an unlawful text according to which the deputy chairman of the Municipal Council was voted in violation of the Law on Local Self-Government and Local Administration (ZMSMA). In his written statement to the court, the Devin City Council challenged the prosecutor’s protest as unfounded. The case has been decided.
