Nine of forest, located in the territory of the village of Sulitsa near Stara Zagora, are condemned to be cut down following decisions by the Municipal Council in Stara Zagora and the Administrative Court in the city. The land is owned by the company “Tema” OOD, registered at the Armir Hotel, located in the Stara Zagora Mineral Baths.
Both the company and the hotel are owned by Ventsislav Draganov, a former employee of the State Security.
He was also one of the defendants in the “Maslarova” case, accused of embezzling nearly 11 million BGN from the budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs, which concluded with acquittals for all defendants after ten years of judicial delays.
The businessman’s property is situated in the territory of Sulitsa, just 1.5 km from the center of the spa resort (which does not have its own territory) and opposite the rock formation known as “The Step of the Virgin,” an ancient pagan sanctuary that has become a site of pilgrimage for Christian believers after the construction of a chapel at its foot.
Professorkov is categorical that the MoES has sought to “break through” the procedure for proving plagiarism by turning the oversight process into an unregulated one. He highlights two bottlenecks in the investigation that must adhere to legal requirements—the rector (the head) of the higher education institution and the minister. The first has the power to appeal, if applicable, the administrative court’s decision to revoke the scientific degree and declare the diploma invalid, while the second is tasked with contesting the already rendered court decision before the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC).
This is the only way they can defend the decisions of the Commission on Academic Ethics (CAE) that confirm instances of plagiarism and lead to the revocation of scientific degrees and academic titles—actions that neither the head of the National Military University in Veliko Tarnovo nor the minister have taken regarding the proven cases of plagiarism by Venelin Terziev and Daniela Vezieva, the former Minister of Economy in the previous caretaker government.
Professor Stoykov intends to send materials to the European Commission for Education and Science regarding confirmed cases of plagiarism by the CAE, in which rectors and/or the education minister refuse to comply with the law.
He also mentioned the case of Venelin Terziev, for whom the CAE proved that he obtained two of his scientific titles through plagiarism.
“This is the first time such a situation has occurred in Bulgaria’s academic history, and it can be compared to an elephant crashing into a glass shop,” the professor commented, who is fighting battles on multiple fronts against plagiarism. He awaits the results of the investigations into professors Dimitar Dimitrov and Dobri Yarkov, as well as who will dismiss them as rectors of UNSS and Trakia University in Stara Zagora.
“Za Istinata” will also monitor the developments and conclusions of these cases closely.
The decision is illegal, primarily because the change to the General Spatial Plan is not aimed at constructing elements of technical infrastructure or special facilities related to national defense and security, but rather to satisfy the interests of a private investor.
It is also important to note that Venelin Draganov missed the opportunity to appeal the GSP during its discussion period, before it took final effect. Whether this was due to oversight or some other reason is irrelevant.
This case brings to mind another issue—the amendment of the GSP of Stara Zagora concerning the Bedetchka Park to allow for its construction. In that decision, the changes to the General Spatial Plan were also made amid numerous violations of Article 62a of the Spatial Planning Act (ZUT), as the regulatory framework for changing the designation of green areas was effectively ignored, just as it is now.
The decision to convert Bedetchka Park into a residential area was reconsidered by the Municipal Council in Stara Zagora due to a number of null and illegal previous acts and public pressure, and in 2016, a new decision was made to preserve the majority of the park.
Attempts by the municipal administration and local councilors to lobby for one private interest or another continue today, creating a risk of destroying an increasing number of green spaces within the boundaries of the General Spatial Plan.
Therefore, it is necessary for legal experts to determine whether the current decision for the partial amendment of the General Spatial Plan of Stara Zagora, specifically regarding the property of Venelin Draganov, is void, given that the explicit prohibition against changing the designation of green areas (or future ones) in the Spatial Planning Act (ZUT) has existed and remained unchanged over the years.
In recent years, numerous examples of the “green policy” of the Municipality of Stara Zagora can be cited, where hundreds of trees were cut down to free up land for construction by private investors. Clearly, the public interest holds little to no significance in these decisions.
