site.btaPavel Popov Will Continue to Serve as Acting Varna Mayor until November 11

Pavel Popov will continue to serve as acting mayor of Varna Municipality until November 11, the city administration’s press service said on Thursday. Mayor Blagomir Kotsev issued the order appointing a fill-in earlier that morning.

The decision was made because Kotsev is on leave from October 31 to November 11. Copies of the order have been sent to the chairman of the municipal council and the regional governor of Varna.

Since Kotsev’s arrest on July 8, this is the third time he has issued an order delegating his duties while on leave. Popov has been appointed to act in his place.

Asked why this latest order runs until November 11, Popov said that by that date Mayor Kotsev will be released from custody. He noted that Kotsev’s detention cannot continue once the investigation ends and the grounds for his arrest are no longer valid. "Until now, the argument was that, under another measure of restraint, he could influence the investigation. Since there is no investigation, nothing can be influenced," Popov said. The acting Varna Mayor said that this was only his personal assumption, not a new decision regarding the mayor’s case. If Kotsev is not released by November 11, he will still be able to continue to perform his duties directly, Popov said, though he declined to comment on whether Varna would then be governed remotely.