Two local officials from the city of Shumen, affiliated with a political movement supported by a prominent businessman under sanctions by the US and UK for corruption, have reportedly handed themselves new official vehicles for the start of 2025.
One of them, the mayor of Kaolino, purchased a car worth approximately 77,890 BGN (excluding VAT), according to procurement notices published in the public procurement register. The municipality of Kaolino, with a population of around 10,700 residents as of late 2023, announced a tender a few months ago for the purchase of a car and a minibus, valued collectively at about 182,000 BGN (excluding VAT). The initial tender, launched in September, was subsequently canceled, only to be reopened in October.
In the second procedure, a supplier was selected for the passenger car, but the purchase of the minibus was once again canceled. The company “Euratec Auto” Ltd., a supplier of the Škoda brand in Bulgaria, was chosen as the contractor for the position “Supply of a passenger car for the needs of the Municipality of Kaolinovo.” The other bidder in the public tender, the company “Sender Bulgaria 01,” was excluded due to non-compliance with the specified conditions.
For the new car of the mayor of Kaolinovo, the municipality set the following requirements: a brand-new sedan, manufactured in 2024, with 4×4 drive, automatic transmission with 7 or more gears, 5 doors, safety systems including ABS, AIR BAG, ESP, Kessy Go, front, rear, and side airbags totaling no fewer than 9, automatic fuel cutoff in case of collision, and pedestrian protection in the front bumper.
The car is also required to have the following extras: central locking, an alarm system with volumetric sensors, LED daytime running lights, fog lamps, a three-zone climate control system, parking sensors, front and rear electric windows, a 360-degree parking camera, a navigation system with maps of Europe, Bluetooth connectivity, wireless inductive charging, protection against refueling with the wrong fuel, five USB ports, heated seats, tinted windows with UV filter, a digital instrument panel, an achromatic rearview mirror, and side mirrors with electric heating and folding functions.
This official vehicle, costing nearly 80,000 BGN (over 93,000 BGN with VAT), is described by the Municipality of Kaolinovo as “of exceptional importance for ensuring the life and health of the employees” when announcing the public procurement. The announcement states: “Transport provision is a crucial element for maintaining an uninterrupted work process in the Municipality of Kaolinovo. Moreover, ensuring safety during business trips under adverse weather conditions in the region during the winter season is of utmost importance for protecting the life and health of employees. This necessitates the purchase of a new 4×4 passenger vehicle for carrying out daily duties.”
Until now, the mayor of Kaolinovo drove an official Mercedes, purchased 10 years ago for a substantial sum at the time of 70,000 BGN. In 2015, an investigation by Nova TV revealed that many mayors bought luxury official cars worth hundreds of thousands of levs during the first year of their terms. For example, the mayor of the small Rhodope town of Nedelino, with a population of 4,000, bought an official jeep for 130,000 BGN, while his counterparts in Nessebar and Sozopol purchased luxury limousines for over 100,000 BGN. The investigation also showed that taxpayer money was used to pay for cars for mayors of small municipalities that lacked funds for far more essential activities. Other examples included mayors from the Shumen region: the mayor of Hitrino municipality (6,000 inhabitants) bought a car for 110,000 BGN, the mayor of Varbitsa acquired one for 100,000 BGN, and in Venets municipality, the mayor’s car cost 139,000 BGN. The data for this investigation came from the Public Procurement Agency.
Regarding the mayor of Kozlovo, who was elected in 2023, Ismail Ibryam inherited a Kia official jeep from his predecessor, Eshref Redzheb. However, the new mayor did not want to drive this jeep because it belonged to Eshref. Residents of Nikola Kozlevo straightforwardly explained: “The jeep was relatively new, no older than six years, but every mayor wants their own new car.”
While the Mercedes of the Kaolinovo mayor might be seen as “worn out” and “due for replacement” by mayoral standards, there is no such justification for the official car of the Kozlevo mayor.
Ismail Ibryam now drives a new Škoda, just like his counterpart from Kaolinovo, purchased around the same time. How much the Municipality of Nikola Kozlevo has spent on the new mayoral car is currently unknown, as the administration has not announced a procurement for the official vehicle. However, 100,000 BGN were allocated in the municipal budget for this purpose.
The funds were earmarked at the beginning of 2024 with the intention to buy a car for the chairman of the Municipal Council. At that time, the head of the local parliament was Turhan Karakash, the leader of the still unified DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) in Nikola Kozlevo and a party colleague of the mayor. However, after the split within DPS, their paths diverged. Karakash remained loyal to Dogan and is currently the regional chairman of DPS-Dogan in the Shumen region, while the mayor of Kozlevo joined Peevski’s faction and became one of the most active proponents of the “new beginning” in the region, opposing Dogan’s supporters. In the last parliamentary elections held on October 27, 2024, Nikola Kozlevo municipality was among the record holders in votes for Peevski, with 73.5% supporting “DPS-New Beginning.”
On election day, municipal mayor Ismail Ibryam was seen entering one of the large polling stations in the village of Valnari and directing how the voting area should be arranged. Unfazed by the presence of the election commission, Ibryam even threatened journalist Diana Zhelyazkova from “Za Istinata” while she was filming a report on electoral violations. When the journalist was investigating the incident on site, Ibryam re-entered the polling station and wagged his finger at Zhelyazkova, repeating twice, “You better watch out!” None of the commission members reacted to the mayor’s presence, despite it clearly violating election law.
Meanwhile, before the elections, Ismail Ibryam dismissed one of his deputy mayors, who belonged to Dogan’s party, and a change was organized in the municipal council leadership that saw the removal of chairman Turhan Karakash. Karakash is now an ordinary municipal councilor, while mayor Ismail Ibryam acquired a new official vehicle.
Nikola Kozlevo is one of the smallest municipalities in the Shumen region, with just 5,338 residents according to NSI data, and it primarily relies on funds from the state budget for its operating expenses.
