site.btaProsecutor General Demands Socialist MP to Be Stripped of Immunity

Prosecutor General Demands Socialist MP to Be Stripped of Immunity

Sofia, March 21 (BTA) - Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov has demanded that Svetla Buchvarova-Piralkova MP of BSP-Left Bulgaria be stripped of her immunity, the prosecuting magistracy said Monday.

As part of pretrial proceedings the Sofia City Prosecution Office has gathered evidence that in her capacity as Agricultural Academy's Governing Council Chair, Buchvarova-Piralkova consciously concluded an unfavourable deal to the considerable detriment of the academy: 1,326,671.36 leva.

The Agricultural Academy is a legal person maintained by the budget of the Agriculture and Food Ministry.

On July 21, 2009, the Agriculture and Food Minister issued an order giving the Agricultural Academy the right to use 972,622.4 ha of farmland on the territory of the Southeastern villages of Strazhitsa and Karvouna. Without a decision of the Agricultural Academy's Governing Council, its Chair Buchvarova-Piralkova on August 13, 2009 concluded a ten-year contract with Litex Commerce AD for joint research and development activity on this farmland. Under the contract, the company had to pay 17,500 leva a year (1.80 leva per 0.1 ha) to the Agricultural Academy.

The agrotechnical and economic expert opinions acquired by the Sofia City Prosecution Office prove that during the period in question, the rental rate for farmland in the area of Strazhitsa and Karvouna was between 70 and 80 leva per 0.1 ha. Thus, the Agricultural Academy could have received 680,835.68 leva for the 972,622.4 ha it rented, the prosecuting magistracy said.