The municipal councilor from the small Deliorman municipality Nikola Kozlevo Rexheb Veli, son of former mayor Eshfer Rexheb, shocked his colleagues in the local government with his latest declaration of assets. Before the Anti-Corruption Commission /KPC/, Veli indicated impressive cash assets of over 1.67 million leva for 2024.
The richest councilor
Rexheb Veli declared 700 thousand euros in cash, which, according to his explanations, are “abroad (Turkey) and are “available in cash”. Veli explains the origin of the funds with a canceled donation. Before becoming a municipal councilor, he donated 700 thousand euros to his mother Vildan Rexheb, but in 2024 the donation was canceled and his mother returned the amount. “The money originated as dividends from the company of which I was the manager,” the municipal councilor stated.
In addition to the large donation, equivalent to the leva equivalent of 1,368,920 leva, Rexheb Veli has also declared a more modest bank account with 218 thousand leva, originating from “savings”.
For 2024, the municipal councilor has indicated employment income in the amount of 4,139 leva and another 79,349 leva from employment relationships outside the position held.
The municipality of Nikola Kozlevo is the poorest in the Shumen region, but this obviously does not apply to the financial situation of the Eshrefoglou family, which officially governed it until 2023.
The “head” of the family, Eshref Redzeb (GERPB), was the mayor of Nikola Kozlevo for two terms – from 2015 to the summer of 2023. He ruled with an absolute majority in the Municipal Council and held all political, administrative and institutional power in his hands. At the same time, the family business of grocery stores gave the family enormous economic power, on which a large part of the municipality’s residents were dependent – for work, for social benefits, for firewood, even for receiving goods on credit in grocery stores. In recent years, the family has expanded its business by entering construction.
Eshref Redzeb would continue to govern the municipality because he was one of Boyko Borisov’s “blades” in the Deliorman municipalities, known as bastions of the MRF. The fact that he managed to break away from one of the “fortresses of the MRF” gave additional weight to the Nikola Kozlevo mayor. However, his secure third term was hindered by the anti-corruption commission, which in 2021 accused Eshref Rejeb of conflict of interest and disclosed data that he had paid from the municipal budget to companies owned by his two sons. All decisions of the then KPKOMPI were confirmed by the court and ultimately Rejeb had to leave the mayoral post early, just two months before the end of his second term.
After GERB refused to nominate him for a third term, the Esrefoglou family migrated overnight to Güner Tahir’s National Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Thus, one of Esref Receb’s sons, Receb Veli, became a municipal councilor, and a six-member group loyal to the former mayor was formed around him, with a total of 13 members of the Municipal Council.
In opposition for less than a year
The new mayor of Nikola Kozlevo, Ismail Ibryam, nominated by a local coalition between the MRF and the BSP, managed to defeat the Esrefoglou family in the elections in the fall of 2023, and locals said that this happened with the decisive help of Delyan Peevski, at the time co-chair of Ahmed Dogan’s party.
Only half a year later, however, the MRF split, and this also changed the political landscape in the small Deliorman municipality. Mayor Ismail Ibryam was quick to join Peevski’s ranks and demonstrate loyalty to the politician sanctioned for corruption by the US and the UK. In the parliamentary elections in October 2024, the local ruler was already openly and with all his might and means working for Peevski, providing him with over 73% of the votes in the municipality. This was done with the personal intervention of Mayor Ismail Ibryam.
On election day, October 27, 2024, in violation of the law, he stood quite openly at the polling station in the village of Valnari, in front of the silent gaze of police officers and members of the election commission. Spotted there by a reporter from the website “For the Truth”, the mayor issued a threat with the warning “You be very careful!”.
While the mayor migrated to the “New Beginning”, the chairman of the Municipal Council in Nikola Kozlevo, Turhan Karakas, remained loyal to Dogan and later became the regional coordinator of the APS (Alternative for Rights and Freedoms) structure in Shumen. The mayor of Nikola Kozlevo immediately reacted and a “cleansing” of the political enemy was organized in the Municipal Council. With the help of advisors from the MRF-New Beginning, the majority in the council was changed and in November 2024 a request was submitted for the early termination of Turhan Karakas’ powers. He resigned, and the new majority elected Halil Rufat as the chairman of the municipal council, with the support of advisors from the BSP. The new majority is actually the people of the former municipal mayor Eshref Redzeb, who returned to power through the back door, and locals say that the family is already “distributing” its influence between Borisov and Peevski.
The new chairman
The chairman of the municipal council, Khalil Rufat, was the person with the most savings among local leaders in 2023. Now he has been displaced from the first place, but still declares savings in three bank accounts – for 118,033 leva, 27,839 leva and 3,614 euros. In addition, he indicates employment income in the amount of 6,286 leva, as well as salaries outside the position held in the amount of 11,813 leva.
Before being elected chairman of the municipal council, Rufat was chairman of the group of councilors from the NDPS (Eshrefoglou).
New salaries for councilors
At the suggestion of Halil Rufat, municipal councilors in Nikola Kozlevo have higher salaries as of July 1 this year. At the last session before the summer vacation, Rufat submitted a report to increase the salaries of councilors. Thus, they now receive 690 leva for attending a regular session and 200 leva for an extraordinary session. Until the beginning of last month, their remuneration was 600 leva per session. For participation in committees, 150 leva is paid separately, and committee chairmen receive 170 leva per meeting.
The report was voted on by an absolute majority.
The salaries of the 13-member Municipal Council of Nikola Kozlevo “cost” the local budget 251,329 leva for 2025. These data are published on the website of the local administration. For personnel under employment relations, 56 thousand leva are planned, for personnel under non-employment relations – 147,079 leva, for other remuneration and payments – 1,950 leva and for social security contributions – 46,300 leva. In addition to the salary, the budget also includes 7,800 leva “representative” for the Chairman of the Municipal Council. The entire budget of the municipality of Nikola Kozlevo for 2025 is just over 14 million leva.
