site.btaUPDATED Varna District Prosecution Office Indicts Former Varna Mayor Portnih for Lake Varna's Pollution

The Varna District Prosecution Office submitted an indictment to the court for Lake Varna's pollution by a sewage pipe, the Prosecution Office press service said on Monday. Three people have been charged, including former Varna Mayor Ivan Portnih, who was elected as a candidate of GERB.

He is being held criminally liable for allowing marine waters to be polluted, causing damage to the environment. The Criminal Code provides for a penalty of 2 to 8 years' imprisonment and a fine of BGN 10,000 to BGN 50,000 for such offence. The former Mayor was also charged in his official capacity, as significant damage of a particularly large amount was caused during his term in office, constituting a particularly serious case.

The Prosecution Office is also seeking criminal liability from the BT-Engineering Ltd. Head. The company specializes in consulting, design and engineering services in the field of environment and waste management. Charges have also been brought against an employee of the same company, who was one of the members of the State Acceptance Commission that established the suitability for use of the project for the transformation of a wastewater treatment plant in Varna’s Asparuhovo borough into a pumping station and conveyance pipeline.

The Prosecution Office accuses them of document fraud, which constitutes a particularly serious case and carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years' imprisonment.

In May, Varna Appellate Prosecution Office opened pre-trial proceedings against Portnih for official misdemeanor over the transfer of Varna's shares in the Plovdiv Fair. If the court finds him guilty, the Varna Mayor can be imprisoned for 1 to 8 years.

Later on Monday, Portnih, quoted by the press service of GERB, said he had not yet received the indictment from the District Prosecution Office and could not comment on the charges, but would cooperate with the justice system. He pointed out that he neither wrote the project nor provided funding for its implementation. He said this also applies to the selection of the contractor and the construction of the pipeline, stressing that he was not involved in supervising the implementation of the project, nor did he approve the commissioning of the site. "The pipeline in Varna Lake was built in 2011, under the project of the Ministry of Environment and Water. At that time, the facility was not laid under the bottom, as by design, but was left on top, on the bottom. This is what led to the accident eight years later, probably caused by a ship's anchor," Portnih's position states.