“I filed a report to the Prosecution Office on Monday concerning the distribution of aid for Ukrainian refugees”, said caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev to journalists in parliament on Tuesday.
Demerdzhiev noted that the national task force, which he is a head of, found out that BGN 150 million were spent on the matter by the previous regular cabinet, while the caretaker Government spent BGN 43 million in a comparable period timewise. “This has prompted a review by the national task force. Such an inspection was carried out in the Tourism Ministry. Unfortunately, a number of shortcomings and violations were found,” Demerdzhiev explained the content of the signal, adding that some of the violations could lead to return of European funds.
According to data he provided, over 43% of the funds were paid to 24 individuals named as contact persons for 42 companies. "This is strange to say the least and raises many questions. We will do our best to answer these questions," the Interior Minister assured.
"Over 93 million has been paid on protocols which do not clearly identify who has been assisted and the number of persons assisted," he added. Minister Demerdzhiev expressed his belief that the Prosecution Office will examine the signal together with all other signals received by his Ministry.
"At the early stages of this activity [the aid for Ukrainian refugees] in February 2022, the regular cabinet was responsible for it. As far as I know, there was a deputy prime minister in charge. Payments were made by the Tourism Ministry. Most likely, 'dead souls' were financed - people who were accommodated in hotels only according to documents," Demerdzhiev clarified.
/NZ/
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