site.btaTwo Notaries Face Disciplinary Proceedings over High-Profile Illegal Residential Community Project

Disciplinary proceedings have been launched against two notaries in connection with transactions involving illegal residential development in the Baba Alino area, near Varna, Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov said during parliamentary Question Time on Friday.

The Baba Alino case first came to public attention in 2025 following investigations by the anti-corruption platform BIRD and reports from Vazrazhdane and local activists, who raised concerns about extensive construction activity on forest land near the Golden Sands resort. The controversy centres on 104 residential buildings erected across approximately 10 hectares in the Baba Alino area in Varna, allegedly without valid permits and with the apparent failure - or possible complicity - of several institutions responsible for oversight. The project is owned by Ukrainian development group KYB and several of its officials were briefly arrested but it has denied any wrongdoing. 

The Justice Ministry's Inspectorate is checking 12 notaries over transactions related to the case. Three of the inspections have been completed and recommendations have been made to initiate disciplinary proceedings, with proceedings already under way against two of the notaries, Naydenov said. The final decision will be taken by the disciplinary commission of the Notaries Chamber.

Naydenov said that violations had also been identified in the work of judges responsible for registrations and that inspections were being carried out in those cases as well. The three completed inspections were the most extensive, while the checks involving the other notaries concern one or two transactions each.

According to information from the prosecution service as of September 17, the Varna District Prosecutor's Office has six case files related to illegal construction in the Baba Alino area. The main pre-trial investigation concerns possible offences committed by public officials, while separate checks are being conducted into suspected money laundering.

The Varna District Prosecutor's Office has also opened nine pre-trial investigations into various aspects of the case, including document-related offences, false declarations, illegal logging and suspected fraud. One investigation has been completed, and an indictment was filed in court on July 20, 2026, against one person for obstructing state and municipal officials from carrying out an inspection. In another case, two people have been charged with issuing certificates of tolerance concerning allegedly false circumstances.