site.bta Sofia Military Prosecution Office Investigates Defence Ministry Officials for Mismanagement

Sofia Military Prosecution Office Investigates Defence Ministry Officials for Mismanagement

Sofia, November 29 (BTA) - The Sofia Military Prosecution Office (SMPO) has launched pre-trial proceedings against officials Social Activities Executive Agency (SAEA) of the Defence Ministry for deliberate mismanagement, which has resulted in waste of property for over 2,100,000 leva, the Defence Ministry said.

The offence was performed in the period 2009-July 2013.

The investigation is instituted based on a check of the State Agency for National Security, which has established that in September 2009 the Defence Ministry, acting through SMPO, awarded a public procurement contract for the manufacture, supply and installation of furniture for 179 apartments, owned by the Ministry, to a commercial company. The total value of the contracts signed was 3,697,693 leva. The contracts were fulfilled and the ownership of the items was transferred to the Executive Agency. Part of the furniture (for 85 apartments) was installed but the other part of the items remained in the warehouses of the contractor company.

It has been found out that Defence Ministry officials have not deliberately taken care of the furniture in question for more than three years and a half. Apart from the fact that the items were not accepted and were left over in the contractor's warehouses, the official's inaction has resulted in damage and destruction of a large part of the equipment, which is of a total value of 2,132,000 leva. In the meantime, a bankruptcy procedure was launched against the company.

SMPO Spokesman Elin Aleksov told journalists that the contracts were signed in 2009 by the then defence minister Nikolai Tsonev. The furniture was designated for apartments in the towns of Sofia, Plovdiv, Karlovo, Blagoevgrad and Haskovo. Actions for tracing the furniture were undertaken only in 2013. There were many transformations and reshuffles in the Defence Ministry in the meantime. The investigation will find out whether a minister or a director of a competent directorate carry any responsibility within the case.