site.btaVarna Mayor Kotsev: I Believe in Justice, I Am Absolutely Convinced of My Innocence

“I believe in justice, I am absolutely convinced of my innocence, and I believe that this will be proven during the trial,” said the mayor of Varna, Blagomir Kotsev, before the court on Friday.

At the moment, the judicial panel of the Sofia City Court has withdrawn for deliberation to decide what preventive measures will be imposed on Kotsev, municipal councillors Yordan Kateliev and Nikolay Stefanov, and businessman Ivaylo Marinov. The prosecution has requested that they be held in custody.

The four are accused of participating in an organized criminal group along with an unidentified individual with immunity, a member of parliament. Some of them face additional charges, including exerting influence on public officials, bribery (both giving and receiving), and money laundering. According to the prosecution, there is specific testimony from a witness who participated in a public procurement process, claiming that a percentage of the contract’s value was demanded from them in order to win it.

Regarding this procurement, Kotsev stated that it appeared to be in order and that various public contracts are distributed among the deputy mayors. “I cannot be responsible for all public procurements,” said the mayor of Varna. According to him, the accusation is fabricated. Regarding claims that he participated in a conversation sent as a recording to the media by an unknown source, Kotsev said such a conversation never took place and could not have happened.

The mayor emphasized that he is a public official, that he will not flee or commit a crime, and that he wishes to be with his family. “I believe justice will prevail; my request is for a more lenient preventive measure,” he said.

The other three defendants also requested lighter measures or none at all. They pointed out that they could not influence witnesses and would not flee.

At the beginning of the hearing, the prosecutors mainly cited the testimony of witnesses Plamenka Dimitrova and Dian Ivanov. According to Dimitrova, she had meetings with the four defendants and on one occasion, she was asked for 10% of the value of a public contract in which she intended to participate, and on another, 15% excluding VAT.

The case revealed that she did not win the contract. The Commission on Protection of Competition later confirmed the municipality’s decision, which was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court.

Witness Ivanov recounted how Kotsev had explained to him that, during public procurement procedures, the highest possible threshold should be set, and meetings should be held with contractors to negotiate the percentage to be returned to the political party Continue the Change (CC). Ivanov named specific companies and individuals with whom meetings had been held to return part of the value of certain contracts.

The defendants' lawyers told the court that the anonymity of the person with immunity violates the defendants' right to defence. They also noted that the prosecution had ample time since the case was opened in November to conduct the necessary investigative actions and that the investigation is not in an early stage, therefore, detention is unwarranted. The defence discussed the role of Dian Ivanov, who was mentioned in Dimitrova’s testimony but was only questioned days ago. At one point, he was included in a request for the use of special investigative means along with the others. The lawyers further argued that there is no reasonable evidence that a crime was committed or that their clients intend to flee.

When asked by the media why an unidentified individual with immunity was only now added to the charges, the prosecution declined to answer, stating only that the procedure required it and that this information is part of the investigative secrecy. “When the prosecution gathers sufficient evidence of a specific person’s guilt in a particular crime, action will be taken,” they said.