site.btaVote-Buying Prices Differ Across Regions, Says Interior Minister Dechev

The exact amount of money given for vote buying is difficult to establish, as it varies in different parts of the country, commented caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev on Friday, before a meeting with the management of the Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry in Burgas. He was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Interior Kaloyan Kaloyanov and acting Interior Ministry Secretary General Georgi Kandev.

Dechev said that vote buying is carried out in various ways such as cash transactions, sales on credit in grocery stores, and giving away of firewood and other essential goods.

In Burgas, Kandev announced that legal proceedings have been initiated against a man detained for vote-buying in Botevgrad on Friday. "It is under Art. 167 of the Criminal Code. Names and personal identification numbers were found in the notebooks seized from his home. At the moment, we cannot comment on which political parties votes were bought for, since we are in an election campaign," added Kandev. He added that, in rare cases, law enforcement agencies find money, personal documents and lists of names in one place.