site.btaYes, Bulgaria Says Sofia Waste Tender Is Example of State Capture

The Yes, Bulgaria party which is part of the opposition coalition Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, believes that a public procurement procedure for waste collection in Sofia is an example of state capture. They held a news conference on the matter Friday. 

Yes, Bulgaria co-chair and MP Ivaylo Mirchev said that a major Turkish company had withdrawn from a tender for waste transportation after several of its garbage trucks were set on fire while parked in a guarded lot in Sofia.

A few months ago, a procedure was launched to select companies for cleaning and waste collection in different parts of the capital. The Turkish company initially took part in the first tender for the Krasno Selo and Lyulin boroughs. According to Mirchev, four of company’s trucks, parked in a secured parking area, were torched.

Mirchev said that on Thursday the Turkish company withdrew from the competition. “This leaves a single participant, which wins the contract, and this is a company linked to Taki [an alias of the controversial businessman Hristoforos Amanatidis],” the MP said. He pointed out that waste disposal in Sofia had previously cost BGN 144 per tonne, while the company connected to Taki is offering a price of BGN 420 per tonne.

According to Mirchev, companies have been forced to drop out of the tenders one by one.

"Two months later, after a report was filed with the Interior Ministry, nothing has been done. Interior Minister Daniel Mitov is well aware of the case," the MP stated, adding that video recordings are available. Asked by BTA how they know the police have not acted, Mirchev said: “We know there is inaction because we checked the Interior Ministry’s daily reports and found no information about the case.” 

Mirchev added that the party will be filing a formal complaint, stressing that Bulgaria cannot continue to lose hundreds of millions of leva to “a gang of mobsters who have decided to subjugate the institutions.”

The other Co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria, Bozhidar Bozhanov said that the company in question had belonged to Marita Holding Group, “which by all indications is linked to Taki’s right-hand men, Ami, Karo and all his previous partners in earlier activities”. He noted that several months ago the company was transferred to its manager, who is now the owner. “The biggest Turkish company would not back out of a large public contract in the Bulgarian capital unless it knew that the state is standing behind Taki,” Bozhanov said.