site.btaSupreme Administrative Prosecution Office Approaches Finance Minister, National Audit Office about Party Subsidies in Excess of Legal Amount

June 4 (BTA) - The Supreme Administrative Prosecution
Office (SAPO) has approached the Finance Minister, the Bulgarian
 National Audit Office and the Supreme Cassation Prosecuting
Magistracy about party subsidies paid out in 2018 in excess of
the legal amount of 11 leva per one valid vote at the last
general elections, the Prosecuting Magistracy said in a press
release Tuesday.

SAPO conducted a check which showed that five political parties
and coalitions (GERB, BSP for Bulgaria, United Patriots, the
Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and Volya) received incorrect
payments that significantly exceeded the state subsidy of 11
leva per valid vote, thus breaking the law. The same applies to
the state subsidies paid to political parties that are not
represented in the National Assembly but which received at least
 one per cent of all valid votes at the last general elections.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov was informed on Monday about
the findings of the check. SAPO set a 30-day deadline for
undertaking measures and ensuring better control of the
allocation of the annual state subsidy, as well as for
undertaking immediate actions to collect and refund the overpaid
 subsidies by the eligible parties in the period 2016-2018.

The National Audit Office was alerted in order to take actions
in accordance with its legal powers on financial control with
regard to political parties.

The probe of SAPO into violations of the Political Parties Act
in connection with the amount of party subsidies provided in
2018 was ordered by Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov after a
TV talk show revealed that the state subsidies for political
parties and coalitions in 2018 should have totalled 32,128,844
leva but the amount actually provided was 38,684,384 leva. This
put "the price" of a valid vote won at the latest parliamentary
elections at 13.23 leva instead of the legally established
standard of 11 leva. RY/TH