The Sofia City Court questioned three witnesses in the case against former Varna mayor Ivan Portnih, Nova TV reports.
He is accused, together with former regional governor Stoyan Pasev, as well as two civil servants from the Executive Agency "Maritime Administration", of fraud related to the reconstruction of a non-existent fishing port. The indictment states that official documents were forged and false data were provided in order to illegally receive 3.4 million euros from EU funds and funds from the national budget.
The witness Rositsa Popova explained to the court that since the project for the construction of the port was with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, she submitted her application for participation there and subsequently her contract was concluded with the academy. She added that it mentioned her rights and obligations and emphasized that no one influenced her in its preparation or conclusion.
Popova added that she studied ports in the southern and later in the northern Black Sea coast, because such projects are not popular in Bulgaria. She noted that every project begins with a study. Her functions did not end with the preparation of the project for the construction of the port. She also had tasks during its construction.
The witness Lozana Vasileva stated that in the period 2009-2013 she was the Deputy Executive Director and Director of the State Fund "Agriculture" (DFZ), and in 2013 she was the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food. In this capacity, she was delegated the functions of head of the managing body of the Directorate of "Maritime Affairs and Fisheries".
Vasileva also said that she signed the contracts in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries, and the State Fisheries Fund took over the projects after the negotiations and made the payments. The witness confirmed that she approved the project for the port in her role as deputy minister.
In turn, Ivan Dobrev indicated to the court that he had the task of preparing the detailed development plan (DDP) for the port. It must include the boundaries of the property and regulate access to it. In addition, Dobrev carried out the geodetic survey of the land. He was not tasked with surveying the port, but only the land part of the port.
Dobrev explained to the court that the purpose of a property is not determined by the DDP. In this case, this means that it does not prevent the preparation of a detailed development plan for a port on a site designated for a beach.