The municipality of Silistra has been sanctioned by the managing authority due to the delayed execution of a bike path project funded through a European program.
This was revealed in an order from the Silistra Administrative Court dated September 1, which initiated a case based on an appeal from the mayor of the municipality, Yuliyan Naydenov, against the imposed sanction.
The project, valued at 2.3 million leva including VAT for the bike paths, was awarded to “ITD Group,” which has a contract for execution worth 2.4 million leva including VAT.
The managing authority justified its decision based on the finding that the construction was completed with a delay of 451 days beyond the final date stipulated in the contract with the executing company.
The mayor of Silistra requested a 5 million leva loan for “co-financing” the European projects.
The sanction is due to the lenient attitude of the mayor towards the executing company, which won a large share of the contracts related to this project.
By failing to hold the contractor accountable for the delays, the beneficiary, in this case, the mayor of Silistra, violated the principle of good financial management as defined by European legislation, according to the reasoning for the sanctions. Furthermore, through his inaction, he also violated the principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. The mayor disagrees with this and contests it.
However, according to the authority that imposed the sanction, by accepting delayed execution without seeking accountability from the contractor, the beneficiary specifically violated the principle of economy, as he could not confirm that he used the resources provided to him in a timely manner, in an appropriate quantity and quality, and at a good price, which constituted a violation.
This is not the first sanction imposed on the municipality of Silistra for this project. As previously stated by “Za Istinata,” a sanction of 25% on 1.2 million leva was imposed due to the selection of the contractor for the bike racks that were installed along the bike paths. This contract was also awarded to “ITD Group,” for which the sanction for delayed execution has been imposed.
No surprise: The municipality of Silistra once again chose a company owned by Madzho for fuel supplies without competition.
The project was also halted during execution because significant changes were made compared to the initial version of the municipality’s investment project, which had to be coordinated.
Regarding the financing of the project, the mayor convinced municipal councilors at the beginning of 2023 to approve a loan from the FLAG Fund. The loans were aimed at covering the municipality’s regular payments for projects until the funds were replenished by the managing authority.
