site.btaOmbudsman Receives Over 10,000 Complaints in a Year

Ombudsman Receives Over 10,000 Complaints in a Year

Sofia, October 20 (BTA) - Over 10,000 complaints have been received by the Ombudsman in one year, Bulgaria's Ombudsman Maya Manolova said at a news conference here on Thursday, during which she reported on her first year in office, adding that this is a new record in the institution's history.

Some 8,000 complaints have been brought to an end, she noted, explaining that the highest number was against monopolies. Sofia's Toplofikatsia heating utility ranks first and has seen a 216 per cent increase in complaints. Next come the banks and arbitration courts.

A total of 28,420 persons have sought help from the Ombudsman since Manolova took the post. The institution has made 2,379 recommendations to State institutions and municipal bodies. The Ombudsman has tabled nine bills in Parliament and drafted five reports. Cases were referred to the Constitutional Court four times and twice to supreme courts, Manolova noted.

Among her pending tasks, Manolova listed the problems with Toplofikatsia, abuses by banks and payday loan companies, and the failure to prevent cases of handing over Turkish nationals back to Turkey. Manolova said that she and her team do not plan on giving up, adding that the problems with Toplofikatsia will be a priority.

Commenting the recent case, when seven persons were returned to Turkey, Manolova said that this is the second time it becomes public knowledge that neither she, nor the human rights organizations had been informed, as required by the law. The Ombudsman noted that this has happened in dozens of other instances, adding that she met with the Interior Ministry's Migration Directorate on Wednesday and demanded that a mechanism be developed, under which she can be informed about each and every case of forceful expulsion of people from Bulgaria.

Manolova welcomed the recently adopted amendments to the Election Code, describing them as a step in the right direction. She added, however, that Bulgarians abroad must not be separated based on where they live.

Bulgarians residing in other EU Member States will benefit from the changes in the upcoming presidential elections, as more voting sections can be opened there.