site.btaIvan Georgiev Released on Bail Following Charges within Bulgarian Development Bank Loan Probe

Ivan Georgiev, arrested on Thursday in a case for a non-performing loan of some BGN 150 million from the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) to the Roadway Construction company he represents, was released on a BGN 50,000 bail on Friday, the Sofia City Prosecution Service said. Georgiev was charged as aide on Thursday.

Two more individuals are to be charged in the case: former BDB director Stoyan Mavrodiev (for major official embezzlement) and Roadway Construction owner Rumen Gaytanski (as instigator). The charges have not yet been pressed because both of them are still wanted and it is yet to be established if they are in Bulgaria or abroad. Only then will the prosecutor decide whether to charge them in absentia, it transpired at a news briefing of the Sofia City Prosecution Service on Thursday.

Prosecutors are yet to decide if other BDB officials should be held accountable. 

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 (DGCOC) and then to an investigator from the Sofia City Prosecutor's 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 Prosecutor's Office upheld the termination, but the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's 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.