The Sofia Appellate Court remanded in custody businessman Rumen “The Wolf” Gaytanski over charges of instigation in connection with a BGN 148.5 million loan from the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB), thus upholding the decision of the Sofia City Court which ordered Gaytanski’s pre-trial detention on August 19. The Sofia Appellate Court dismissed the businessman’s appeal for a milder remand measure.
Gaytanski is facing charges of instigation in connection with a loan of BGN 148.5 million granted by the BDB to the Roadway Construction company, which Gaytanski owns. The other defendants in the pre-trial proceedings are former BDB executive director Stoyan Mavrodiev who is charged for major official embezzlement and was declared wanted, and Roadway Construction representative Ivan Georgiev (as accessory), who was released earlier on a BGN 50,000 bail.
The investigation into the BDB loan of 2019 was launched in late October 2022 following a tip-off. It was for a malfeasance in office and was assigned to the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and then to an investigator from the Sofia City Prosecution Office. By a decree of May 5, 2023, the proceedings were discontinued as the supervising prosecutor considered that there was no evidence of a malfeasance in office. The Appellate Prosecution Office upheld the termination, but the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office found flaws in the investigation as some of the links between the companies that were connected to the loan had not been properly examined. The case was therefore referred back to the prosecution service on January 12, 2024 for further investigation, with instructions to question witnesses and request documentation. Following subsequent legislative changes, the pre-trial proceedings were assigned to the Anti-Corruption Commission. During the searches and seizures, documents and other evidence were seized.
Rumen “The Wolf” Gaytanski is known for having run Sofia’s waste collection and disposal through his “Volf 96” OOD and “Dits” AD companies. The two companies were awarded concessions by the Sofia Municipal Council back in 1996. In 2006, the then Sofia mayor and current GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that the municipality was looking for a way to get rid of the concessionaire companies. “We’re doing everything possible to rid ourselves of “The Wolf” in Sofia,” Borissov said back then. Sofia town hall appealed three decisions of the Sofia City Court, according to which the companies had to be compensated in the amount of over BGN 8 million. Gaytanski’s companies lost their concessions in Sofia shortly after, but managed to get concessions in other large cities, such as Stara Zagora, Sliven and Kardzhali.
/RY/
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