site.btaCC Leader Assen Vassilev's Name Linked to Investigation Against Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev and Three Others

In one of her testimonies, witness Plamenka Dimitrova linked the requested percentage of a public procurement contract’s value to the co-leader of Continue the Change (CC) and MP Assen Vassilev. She reportedly learned this from conversations with two of the accused. Her words were relayed by prosecutors Ahmed Kokoev and Georgi Ivanov during the hearing to determine the pre-trial detention measures for Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev, municipal councilors Yordan Kateliev and Nikolay Stefanov, and businessman Ivaylo Marinov.

Earlier in the day, Kotsev’s lawyer, Ina Lulcheva, stated that an unidentified person with immunity, an MP, had appeared in the case.

One of the defence attorneys cited Dimitrova’s testimony, in which she allegedly said: "I was left with the impression that it concerned Assen Vassilev."

During the hearing, it became known that the prosecution had amended the charges on Friday afternoon to include an unidentified person with parliamentary immunity.

According to lawyer Lulcheva, witness Dimitrova never stated that Kotsev promised she would win the public contract, nor did she claim he asked her for a bribe. She and lawyer Milen Ralchev argued that the request for Kotsev’s permanent detention was unfounded. “This case is political in nature and targets a specific political party,” Lulcheva added.