Under a project worth over 1.2 million leva, financed with European funds, streets in Simeonovgrad that had a sewage and water supply network were to be rehabilitated. However, an inspection showed that some of them had fake covers placed on them, imitating manholes, while rainwater flowed freely, and household waste was collected in yards and septic tanks.
The project, entitled “Rehabilitation of streets with a sewage and water supply network in Simeonovgrad”, covers the streets “Panayot Hitov”, “Oborishte”, “Lyuben Karavelov”, “Tsar Osvoboditel” (part of it), “Kapitan Petko Voivoda”, “Drava” and “Hadzhi Dimitar”. The estimated value of the public procurement is 1,240,434 leva, with the money provided by the European Union, and the payment and control are carried out by the State Fund “Agriculture”.
After the renovation, which was completed nearly 10 years ago, the condition of these streets is far from the goals of the project under which they were rehabilitated.
The sidewalks are broken and overgrown with vegetation, and the lack of sewage leads to a constant problem with drainage.
The situation is especially disturbing, given the fact that on one of the streets – “Oborishte”, is located the home of the mayor of the city – Milena Rangelova.
A mystery that the prosecutor’s office must unravel
The question arises whether an inspection was carried out to verify that the key condition for financing – the presence of a built sewage network – was met. At the moment, there is no clear answer to this question, as well as whether such a discrepancy between the project documentation and reality does not contradict the legislation.
The case was raised with the prosecutor’s office years ago. After Boyko Rashkov left his post at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the topic seems to have been forgotten and public discussion about it has stopped.
In 2015, during the election campaign, Milena Rangelova promised the residents of these streets, mostly of Roma origin, that she would asphalt their roads. She kept her promise, but in order to receive funding, she included a Declaration under Article 313 of the Criminal Code in the set of documents. After signing it, criminal liability is incurred for submitting false data.
In this case, there is a serious discrepancy between what was declared – that the streets have sewage systems, and the real situation on the ground.
This type of case, related to the misuse of European funds, falls within the scope of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Laura Kövesi, especially when national institutions do not show interest.
