“You right to meddle in my affairs! I won’t waste my time on nonsense!” – With these remarks, literally shouted at the councilors in Nikola Kozlevo, the director of the municipal cleanliness and construction enterprise, Jemil Aziz, triggered a real scandal in today’s session. The reason for his anger was a completely reasonable inquiry about the work of the municipal company he manages and how its funds, which come from the municipal budget, have been spent.
Appointed with a municipal salary, Aziz seems to have a distorted understanding of his own powers, as he demonstratively refused to adhere to the councilors’ opinions and, after reprimanding them for wasting his time “with nonsense,” left the hall.
Jemil Aziz was appointed director of the municipal enterprise eight years ago by the previous mayor of Nikola Kozlevo, Eshref Radeb, and was considered a close associate of the mayor. The change in the mayoral office in November did not affect Aziz; on the contrary, during today’s session, he continuously emphasized that he does everything “with the mayor’s permission.” Later, sources explained that Aziz has familial ties with the new mayor, Ismail Ibraym, which is why he enjoys his support.
Whether due to another “mayoral backing,” or a lack of understanding, today Aziz behaved scandalously during the session, provoking discontent among both the pro-mayoral group of councilors from the DPS-BSP and the opposition from the NDP. Only Mayor Ismail Ibraym disapproved of the questions directed at his relative, leaving the hall and not returning until the end of the meeting.
When 60,000 BGN Don’t Matter
The scandal erupted over the report of the municipal enterprise “Nikola Kozlevo” regarding the execution of the budget for 2023. The enterprise is engaged in construction, waste cleaning, landscaping, and snow removal in the villages and municipal roads. The budget for the municipal company for 2023 is 584,000 BGN.
The report presented by Jemil Aziz was incomplete and inaccurate, with “many discrepancies in the figures,” as stated by the municipal councilors. The most striking difference was found in the snow removal activity, where the figures “played” with almost 60,000 BGN, which did not seem to concern the head of the municipal enterprise at all.
The subsidy for the snow removal enterprise is 82,000 BGN, but only 24,000 BGN were reported in the expenditure section, some of which were paid to private farmers for clearing in the villages. “It is not specified at all where the difference of 60,000 BGN is, where is that money?” councilors from various groups asked. Aziz was unable to explain where the money had been transferred and instead shouted at the councilors that they had no right to interfere.
According to the head of the municipal enterprise, snow removal in Nikola Kozlevo is a source of pride because “there were no incidents during the winter.” The delays were justified by claiming that “the snow surprised everyone in the national plan.” Aziz stated that there are protocols for the spent funds that report the work done, but it turned out that the councilors had not seen these documents at all.
The director eventually acknowledged that “there were indeed some uncertainties” regarding the report, but he justified it by saying that “he hadn’t looked at it in detail.” When the accountant of the enterprise began to explain where the snow removal funds were being allocated, Aziz entered into a dispute with his own financial officer, revealing that the two could not agree on what exactly was recorded in the report they presented to the municipal councilors.
“Where have the 82,000 BGN allocated for snow removal been spent? Which private companies have you contracted? And what kind of snow fell that warranted spending such an amount?” the councilors continued to question. Their specific inquiries infuriated the municipal chief, who scolded the councilors, claimed he did not owe them a report, and basically told them to mind their own business.
During the heated debate, Aziz displayed a total lack of understanding of his position within the municipal hierarchy, as well as of his powers and those of the local parliament. According to Aziz, he owed no answers to the councilors, nor did he need to provide a detailed report on the spent municipal funds, as he had informed the mayor about everything.
“Shall I bring you the construction contracts as well?” Aziz exclaimed in frustration when the councilors requested to see the contracts for snow removal. It became clear that he had not made the effort to familiarize himself with the report he presented to the municipal council, which was evidently drafted by the enterprise’s accountant. “Explain how the funds were transferred across items, because your report ends at zero,” asked the chairman of the local parliament, Turhan Karakash, noting that the enterprise’s income and expenses were balanced. “What zero?” Aziz shouted back, provoking laughter in the hall.
And when is fishing allowed?
A lengthy discussion was also sparked by the operation of the municipal dam in Karavelovo, which has been entrusted to the municipal enterprise. “We have repeatedly told the director that he must accurately report the revenues from the dam and separate the income from fishing fees and from fish sales. One set of revenues comes from fees, the other from commercial activity, and they should not be mixed. He continues to report them together, and we cannot control which revenues come from what,” stated Khalil Ali, chairman of the NDP group. He raised specific questions regarding fishing in Karavelovo: Why was fish caught in large quantities in nets on January 18 and 19, how much fish was caught, and how was this activity reported?
“The fish is being caught now so that the fishermen are not disturbed during the active season,” responded Jemil Aziz. Despite the obvious shortcomings in his report, he insisted that the councilors accept it. “Let’s review it in committees, clarify it, and I’ll continue to manage the enterprise,” Aziz confidently urged, implying that the councilors were wasting his time.
Seeing the widespread discontent among the councilors, the municipal chief completely lost his temper and began shouting at them from the microphone: “You have no right to meddle in my affairs! I will not carry your thoughts on my back!” Aziz yelled, continuing to scold everyone in the hall – both municipal employees and councilors.
A councilor from the DPS-BSP group also pointed out apparent errors in his report: “The total expenses for cleanliness are 79,000 BGN, but when broken down into individual items, the total is 76,000 BGN. There is a 3,000 BGN discrepancy,” said the councilor, questioning the source of these inconsistencies. Aziz vaguely explained, “I was handed the chart from the municipal directorate; they should clarify,” even though the enterprise has its own accounting.
“I will not burden myself with nonsense!” declared the head of the municipal enterprise in response to the councilors’ questions, continuing to scold them: “So what now? Should we look under the bull for a calf? What expenses we made! Everything is clear and transparent.”
Other councilors tried again to explain the obvious to him – that his report was inaccurate and needed to be corrected. “You can’t even prepare a proper report! Sit down with the accountant and get the report right,” advised Georgi Georgiev (BSP). “Well, this is our level,” Aziz retorted, making it clear that he would not prepare a new report.
“Last month, when preparing the budget, we spoke with the director (Aziz) and warned him that he needed to create a budget for the enterprise, as required by law. Unfortunately, we did not see such a budget,” commented the chairman of the municipal council, Turhan Karakash. According to him, besides the incorrect report, there is also a discrepancy in the staffing of the municipal enterprise.
“It is high time for this municipal enterprise to start generating revenue from its activities because it engages in many things and is the only municipal company. The administration cannot continuously transfer it money without even knowing what it’s spent on,” Karakash asserted. This infuriated Jemil Aziz, who left the hall with the remark, “If you want, go ahead and vote on the report!”
After a brief recess, the municipal councilors unanimously rejected the report of the municipal enterprise “Nikola Kozlevo.” Prior to that, the local parliament decided to establish a special commission to conduct a full audit of the municipal company. The decision for the audit was passed with 7 votes “in favor” and 5 “against.” The councilors from the NDP voted against, even though it was their chairman who raised the issue of irregularities in the report.
The rules governing the work of the municipal enterprise “Nikola Kozlevo” state that if the municipal council does not approve the annual activity report, the mayor of the municipality must dismiss the director from office. It remains to be seen whether Mayor Ismail Ibraym will adhere to the regulations and terminate the contract of the head of the municipal enterprise.
