site.btaVarna to Return Its Plovdiv Fair Shares to State by End of March

Economy Minister Bogdan Bogdanov and Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev have agreed Varna to return its shares from the Plovdiv Fair by the end of March. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Bogdanov explained that the fair is among the key assets of the state and the Ministry has already developed a strategy for its development.

Currently, Varna's shares are blocked, the Minister recalled. He stressed that the state would not give up being the majority owner of the Fair.

An ownership transfer chronicle

A decision by the State in 2016 led to the transfer of a 49.63% stake in the International Fair of Plovdiv to the municipalities of Plovdiv and Varna. Granting a request by then Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Plovdiv Municipality gave back to the State the 20% it got. The Varna Municipal Council decided to return the shares to the State but no practical action followed to implement that. Then, in an asset swap, the Varna Municipal Council decided to award its stake as a contribution to Puldin Tourinvest, which resulted in a complete takeover of the Plovdiv Fair. On December 19, 2022, the Plovdiv Municipal Council granted an approval for the award of the Varna stake as a contribution to Puldin Tourinvest, thanks to local councillors of GERB and others believed to be affiliated with Georgi Gergov. 

The share transfer leaves the State with only 20% of the Plovdiv Fair shares, allowing Gergov practically full control over its assets.

"The fact that the state has given this 29% to the [Varna] municipality and then it transferred them to a private company, is a mistake that the State made and we did not have the say," Plovdiv Deputy Mayor Velichko Rodopski commented on April 25.

In May 2023, the Varna Appellate Prosecution Office opened pre-trial proceedings against Varna Mayor Ivan 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.

MP Stela Nikolova (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria) filed a report to the Prosecution Office in December 2021 for the fact that Portnih had not implemented the 2017 decision of the Varna Municipal Council  and the Municipal Council had not elected a representative to the general assembly of the Plovdiv Fair for 5 years, leaving its interests unprotected. At the time, the Prosecutor's Office refused to open an investigation. This decision was later overturned by the Appellate Prosecution Office.