site.btaUPDATED State-owned Avtomagistrali with New Board of Directors Following Mass Scale Violations of Public Procurement Act

State-owned company Automagistrali will have a new Board of Directors until a competition is held. By order of Regional Development and Public Works Minister Andrey Tsekov, four of the company's 5-member Board of Directors have been changed. The procedure for their registration in the Commercial Register is currently underway, the Regional Development Ministry said in a press release Friday.

The changes were necessary following a report from the Public Financial Inspection Agency for an inspection of compliance with the Public Procurement Act. The report found mass scale violations of the Act and systematic failure to exercise control for legality in the procurement of works, supplies and services by the company.

Current Avtomagistrali CEO Ivan Stanchev remains part of the Board of Directors, Ivelina Marinova, Stanislava Varadinova, Stefan Atanasov and Daniel Mikhalev are the new members. The interim Board of Directors will work until a competition is held. The competition will be announced immediately after the registration of the interim Board of Directors in the Registry Agency.

The changes aim at accelerating activities and finding adequate solutions related to the company's operations in terms of road maintenance, ongoing repair and maintenance and new construction of sections of the national road and motorway network.

Ivelina Marinova graduated in "Transport Technology and Management" at the Todor Kableshkov University of Transport, holds a Master's degree in "Economics and Finance" from the Sofia University. She has worked in the banking sector and has experience in road construction.

Stanislava Varadinova is a lawyer. She has worked as a legal advisor in private companies. She has worked in the administration of the Finance Ministry, the Council of Ministers, the State Agency for Research and Innovation and the Innovation and Growth Ministry.

Stefan Atanasov holds a Master's degree in Law from Sofia University. He is a qualified lawyer registered with the Sofia Bar Association.

Daniel Mikhalev graduated in law from Sofia University. His professional career has taken him through two law firms, an auditing company, a Sofia Regional Court and a Notary office, the statement said.

* * * 

Later on Friday, Tsekov commented on the changes in the composition of Avtomagistrali's Board of Directors, saying that change was necessary in order to carry out an additional internal analysis of the appropriateness, the economic efficiency of the public procurements. He said that for this reason three lawyers and a transport engineer were included in this team.

Outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that "this change was made after coordination with GERB and there were their nominations, as in many other cases there were their nominations that were accepted in relation to various appointments, including ministers, including deputy ministers." He added that GERB-UDF does not have only Mariya Gabriel in his cabinet, but we are very happy to have her, the prime minister added.