The secret report “Montagi” reveals crimes for 1 billion leva during the time of GERB

An audit report of the National Audit Office classified by the Prosecutor’s Office found drastic violations and evidence of crimes in the state “Montagi” in the repairs of dams, the construction of a new government complex and an emergency water pipeline to Pernik. BIRD opened a business connection of the head of the company with Tsvetelina Borislavova. Half of the billion goes to a company related to Peevski’s construction business.

“
Montagi
” is a contractor of 246 contracts totaling over BGN 1 billion. incl. VAT. According to the report available to BIRD, hundreds of millions have been spent in violation as an “ongoing repair” rather than a “major overhaul”. They were made up to 100% advance payments for illegal constructions without approved projects. The report is classified by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in its entirety after the Court of Auditors sends it to the

together with the audit evidence and notifies SANS and the National Investigation Service. “Montages” appealed

the audit report No 01000200321 of the National Audit Office at the Sofia Administrative Court (ACSC), and the Court of Wonders SAC attacked

the non-appealability of the audits of the National Audit Office at the Constitutional Court.

A few days ago, the Court of Auditors announced

that within two months! will disclose the findings of another 17 audit reports, which were notified by the prosecutor’s office in March 2023 that the proceedings had ended with a refusal to initiate or a decree terminating pre-trial proceedings. Among them, however, will not be the audit report “Montagi”, whose fate is yet to be decided in constitutional terms.
Case No 8/2023

The audit report of the National Audit Office covers contracts under the Public Procurement Act (PPA) of Montagi EAD for the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2020. during the reign of GERB. The total value of the contracts is 861 099 thousand. Lv. or Over 1 billion BGN incl. VAT. Ministers of Economy at that time were Emil Karanikolov (until 24 July 2020) and Lachezar Borisov. Karanikolov, along with Vladislav Goranov, was among the ministers fired by Borisov for alleged Relations with DPS. Karanikolov made headlines in the midst of the covid crisis with the notorious operation “Lamb vs. Dates”. Then he personally flew to Abu Dhabi with two planes of meat from the nearby GERB company “Gradus” and dairy products controlled by GERB. Delyan Peevski “Lakrima”.

Data on crimes committed

The Court of Auditors has found (emphasis from the editorial) that:

“Activities conclusion and execution of the verified contracts for repair and reconstruction of dams, New Government Complex, eradication of The consequences of ore mining and coal mining and emergency construction of plumbing by Malo Buchino have been committed in significant non-compliance with the regulatory framework. State of of the the Internal control in the field of research is bad, as throughout the audited period in the audited companies Not built adequate and effective Financial Management and Control Systems, to ensure compliance with and application of procurement rules.“

Among other findings, the report found that “Repair and reconstruction activities of dams are defined as “current repair“, not as “Overhaul‘, as required by Council of Ministers No 495 of 13 July 2018, which constitutes a violation of an act of the Council of Ministers, with a penalty under art. 32, para. 1 of the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act, if the act does not constitute a crime.“

The boss with business relations with Tsvetelina Borislavova

“Montagi”

EAD is solely owned by DKK

EAD (State Consolidation Company), which in turn is 100% owned by the Ministry of Economy.

Executive Director and member of the Board of Directors of the state-owned Montagi

EAD from December 2017 to 30.09.2022 is Tihomir Bonev Dimitrov

. He is a former Deputy Mayor of Stara Zagora Municipality 2001-2007 and a member of the national leadership of the ABV party.

A lesser-known fact is that until 2014 he was a partner in Sea Food, which then became the property of Tsvetelina Borislavova Karagyozova

– a former partner in the life of GERB leader Boyko Borisov. Tihomir Dimitrov until 2012 is the boss in the already deleted “Trace Road Construction

EAD.

Expensive and unusable plumbing

During the water crisis in Pernik in 2020, caused by the low level

of the Studena dam, the Governor of Pernik assigned to Montagi EAD the construction of an emergency water pipeline

from Malo Buchino to Pernik. A procedure was used – negotiation without prior notice where there is a justified urgency. The contract price is BGN 22 131 640. or 26.6 million incl. VAT.

Under the contract, “Montagi” has no right to reassign to third parties, but has the right to assign individual contracted works to subcontractors specified in an offer. In the tender for the implementation of the public procurement, however, “Montagi” did not specify subcontractors. Contract No DG-5/06.02.2020 has also signed 5 aneskas, 4 of which are for an extension of the term, the last of which is until 07.06.2022. It will be ready in 30 days! Alas, with annexes the term becomes almost as much (28), but in months!

Just during the inspection of the future water pipeline on 04.02.2020 (two days before! the signing of the contract for its construction) Boyko Borisov, visibly angry (after 24 minutes of the video), addresses

the assembled reporters with “missirki”

:

“And behold, you here, like

missirki

run

tr-tr-tr-tr-tr“

 

 

The National Audit Office found that no building permit has been issued for the water pipeline, the construction has not been completed and despite the test tests undergone, the emergency water main is not used. The subcontracting of activities does not comply with the PPA and the contract.

“Montagi” have not notified the contracting authority about the use of subcontractors, and the terms and conditions of the Public Procurement Act have not been complied with when choosing them. For the implementation of the contract, 28 subcontractors have been concluded for a total of BGN 14,492,684.42. without VAT, and additional services and supplies were performed without a contract by another 21 contractors/supplier totaling BGN 167,528.71. excluding VAT.

The scheme with dams

In July 2018, the Council of Ministers (Council of Ministers) decided
the SCC
assign the repair works to the dams and approve a list of 414 dams to which urgent major repairs will be carried out. For this purpose, the capital of the SCC has been increased by 500 million BGN. Later in October 2018, the list was supplemented with two more dams, bringing the total number of dams in need of urgent repair to 416 units.

The National Audit Office found that during the audited period between DKK EAD (Assignor) and “Montagi” EAD (Contractor) 234 pcs. contracts covering the repair and reconstruction of 208 dams. These are Only half of the dams, in need of urgent repairs! The total value of the contracts is 522 035 thousand. Lv. or almost BGN 626.5 million incl. VAT.

The repairs of dams assigned to “Montagi” have been reassigned to other (third) parties. Contracts for the repair of all dams at a total cost 530 million VAT is only with three companies.. All this is happening in the dark, without ensuring publicity in the selection and negotiation with external contractors. Half of the amounts are paid in advance to subcontractors even before design contracts have been concluded and technical projects have been drawn up. There is no condition in the contracts for the provision of a performance guarantee.

Related companies and lion’s share for BGN 411 million

The lion’s share of over 77% of the total amount for dam repairs was given to “Kovel Pro

” EOOD, sole ownership of Velizar Penkov Kopchev

. The company has received from “Montagi” 137 contracts totaling BGN 342 527 366 or over BGN 411 million. incl. VAT. Until January 2021, “Kovel Pro” is the sole owner of “Fido Invest

EOOD, in which manager is Nayden Penev Kostadinov

, who was previously on the board of Hydrostroy AD of the construction “great and tough” boss Veliko Zhelev

and has holdings in other related firms. In 2016, the Veliko Zhelev acquired from Ivan Mirinski “VDH

” AD – the former “Vodstroy-98”, associated with Delyan Peevski.

With an annex to one of the contracts of “Kovel Pro”, under which an advance of BGN 9 700 000 has already been paid. without VAT, an additional object has been assigned. The total for both sites has been recalculated, the estimated value has been reduced and the advance payment now represents 100% advance under the contract. A new annex follows, with which the contract is terminated and the advance received is redirected to a third future site. So “Covel Pro” for a year held BGN 9.7 million without operating for them.

In addition, “Kovel Pro” and a company from the union received from “Montagi” the contract for the construction of a new government complex (details below below in the the text) text) are are related. “Covel Pro” and “Greentech Engineering Solutions” from JV “Planex-GES

” DZZD are shareholders together in the company “Helios Power”

” AD. Two full-time employees of the former State Security Service are linked to Helios Power. These are
Ivo Yordanov Ivanov
– related to 38 companies and
Traycho Asenov Ivanov
– related to 7 companies. Among the owners of Helios Power is the Ivo Evgeniev Georgiev

– former CEO of the bankrupt Elitbank, better known as the Komsomol Bank, and former secretary of the Dimitrov Communist Youth Union, elected to the leadership of DKMS with Rosen Karadimov

in 1989.

A company of a former head of RIA takes 102 million

The second largest amount for urgent repair of dams went to “Abak DS

” EOOD, which received from “Montagi” 38 contracts totaling BGN 84,991,060. or almost 102 million leva. incl. VAT. The sole owner of “Abak DS” is Antoaneta Spasenova Chaykova

. Until 2016, the partner in the company is its husband Stefan Georgiev Chaykov, who in the mandate of the Oresharski cabinet headed the Road Infrastructure Agency

from 08/2013 to 08/2014 . Chaykov from 02/2018 to 03/2021 is in the Management Board of EMEA

– the enterprise of the Ministry of Environment and Water, which finances eco-projects. “Abak DS”
participates
in several DZZD – specially created companies.

The third company, Roster

Ltd., can boast only 7 contracts for urgent repair of dams. The total value of the contracts is BGN 14 967 513. or the modest almost 18 million incl. VAT. The manager and majority owner of Roster is Rosen Bankov Terziev. 10% of the shares are owned by Emilia Sabeva Terzieva. The company also has Participations in several DZZD. It is also the only one of the three companies for which the Internet is opened.
page
.

Secretly, in the dark and with a loan from BDB: BGN 228 million and a large advance for a new government complex

The National Audit Office found that the design and construction of a new government complex has been reassigned by “Montagi” EAD to
“Planex-GES”
JV JV without conducting a public procurement. The assignment has become in the dark, and the principles of publicity, transparency and free competition are not respected – there are no conditions for achieving efficiency and economy in the spending of public funds that finance the project. The contract is worth 189 702 thousand. Lv. or BGN 227.6 million incl. VAT. Part of the funding, amounting to EUR 87 million, will be allocated to the Cohesion Fund. comes from a loan from the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB). The advance paid in the amount of BGN 66 million. without VAT does not correspond to the subject of the concluded additional agreement.

Participants in JV “Planex-GES”

DZZD are: “Planex

” EOOD with 60% share and “Greentech Engineering Solutions

” AD with a 40% share. From 2016 to 2021 “Planex “changed three sole proprietors – companies named “Planex Holding”, all sole ownership of Hristo Atanasov Dimitrov

. Planex Participate in many DZZDs – specially created companies. The second company of the union – “Greentech Engineering Solutions

AD, with beneficial owners 9 individuals, also participates

in DZZD.

In July 2021, the caretaker government of Yanev announced the suspension of the project for the construction of a new government complex. Further information is missing.

Overcoming harmful consequences “in house”

In 2017, the government of Boyko Borisov increased by BGN 120 million the capital of the state-owned Eco Anthracite

” EAD. The funds are allocated for restructuring, gradual closure of inefficient mines and overcoming the harmful effects of mining and coal mining. A few months later, the company became part of the DKK. The activities are assigned by “Eco Anthracite” to “Montagi” EAD and have a total value of 111 992 thousand. Lv. or BGN 134.4 million incl. VAT.

The National Audit Office found that the activities assigned to “Montagi” have been reassigned to third parties, which leads to unlawful circumvention of the Public Procurement Act and thus to a restriction of competition. The contract requires that the activities be carried out independently, not reassigned. All activities are reassigned by “Montagi” to two external contractors “Abak DS

” EOOD and “Kovel Pro

” EOOD (the same from the contracts for repair of dams), and the provided significant amount of imprest funds to the external contractors do not correspond with the stages and deadlines for implementation described in the contracts. Received from both companies advances shall not be deducted pro rata from each successive interim payment.

Conclusions of the Court of Auditors

In a separate part of the report, the National Audit Office describes on three pages the conclusions of the audit of the state-owned Montagi EAD (attached below, at the end of the text). The fate of audit report No 01000200321 is yet to be decided in constitutional terms. Case No 8/2023

, after the SAC attacked

the the non-appealability of the Court of Auditors’ audits. At the same time, there is no information about what the prosecution has undertaken on the findings of the report, with which it has
approached
in March 2022, is she working on the case and will she press charges against the offenders.

At the same time, the path of the case to the Constitutional Court (CC) is quite interesting in itself. In April 2022, Montagi EAD appealed the report of the National Audit Office to the ACSC. After only 2 weeks, the court ruled in closed session that this kind of reports They are not subject to appeal – as well as PFIA reports, by the way. “Montagi” submits a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court – and there the fun already begins. In January 2023, after many months of thinking, the Supreme Administrative Court decided to request the report from the prosecutor’s office, where it was conveniently “covered” as part of the already Pre-trial proceedings initiated. This is necessary in order to be able to assess exactly what type of document the report is. In April, the SAC decided to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, as we have already pointed out above. But even after the referral to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court has to ask the prosecutor again for the report, this time in order to provide it to the Constitutional Court, upon their request. The reason – the prosecutor had allowed the report to go to the Supreme Administrative Court, but not then to the Constitutional Court. In other words, we need a new, second permit. Deep and deep. A well-kept secret. As can be seen from our analysis above, it should be clear why. The decision of the Constitutional Court, which has not yet ruled on the admissibility of this case, is awaited. BIRD will monitor and inform the public as always.

Leading photo: Boyko Borisov, Emil Karanikolov – former Minister of Economy (left), Stanislav Vladimirov – Mayor of Pernik (far right), Tihomir Dimitrov – former head of “Montagi” (back) and other persons, inspection of a newly built emergency water pipeline | February 2020, photo MC | Collage BIRD.BG

***

За да научавате преди всички за нови разследвания, инсталирайте си нашето мобилно приложение:

Щом сте стигнали дотук, вероятно вече си задавате въпроса как се финансира този журналистически проект.

От създаването си BIRD се финансираше от подаяния в нашето журналистическо чекмедже.
Но на чекмеджето му мина времето. Даже прокуратурата затвори онова Чекмедже, знаете кое…
Нашето финансиране влиза в крак с епохата. Фондонабиращата ни кампания вече се казва

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