A total of 42 certificates of tolerance for construction in the entire municipality of Varna are fake, announced the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov to journalists in connection with the case in the Baba Alino area in Varna.
Shishkov is participating in the national meeting of local and central executive authorities, which is taking place at the National Palace of Culture (NPC) in the capital.
The minister announced that the verification of the certificates of tolerance, which number over 800, continues. The results for these 42 certificates of tolerance are based on over 300 documents checked. It is established that 41-42 buildings were not built before 2001, since they do not appear on the orthophoto maps in 2019. We have serious doubts about all the others, which were not part of the cadastral map, the minister pointed out.
There are illegal transformer stations found throughout the Varna municipality, said Minister Shishkov.
"They allowed themselves to build illegally and issue illegal certificates of tolerance on a massive scale. Apparently, the mechanism has been working since 2023," said Shishkov.
For the entire Baba Alino area, the regional minister announced that illegal construction of one substation had been detected and information was required from the local electricity distribution company.
Asked who was supposed to control the illegal construction, the Directorate for National Construction Control (DNSK) or the Municipality, Ivan Shishkov said that the Municipality was responsible for the illegal construction there, and the DNSK for the substations. Now the DNSK is doing its job, but why it didn't do it before I don't know, I don't want to justify them, the minister commented. According to him, however, there is no way for the DNSK to react without a signal. According to the minister, the silence of the local authorities is problematic, including on matters for which assistance from the state authorities could have been sought.
Now we are all making noise and the ball is starting to unravel, said Shishkov.
He emphasized that the state is starting to take on its role and check one by one. However, when everyone has made it so that nothing is talked about and commented on, of course there is no way that the institutions that would like to work can do so. The information did not reach the employees of the DNSK, said Ivan Shishkov.
He suggested that it may turn out that there are operating transformer stations that provide electricity to certain buildings without a permit for use, BTA reports. According to the minister, this is an extremely large-scale organization of illegal construction and a violation of the Spatial Planning Act. The case of the Baba Alino area will become the emblem of a practice that, according to the minister, may be widespread throughout Varna.
Ivan Shishkov announced that he had asked the head of the Varna Water and Sewerage Service to provide an explanation on the "Baba Alino" case.
And the director of the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Service (SGKK) in Varna will be fired the moment he goes to work, the minister confirmed and added that the dismissal order is a fact.