How they “gifted” the Plovdiv fair to Georgi Gergov | News and analysis from Bulgaria | DW
While in Sofia the leader of GERB Boyko Borisov courted the leader of “Yes, Bulgaria” and the co-chairman of “Democratic Bulgaria” (DB) Hristo Ivanov, in Plovdiv municipal councilors from DB and citizens went out to protests with posters: “GERB + Gergov – unexpectedly good combination”. The occasion – the epilogue of a 16-year process, at the beginning of which the businessman Georgi Gergov will be admitted to the Plovdiv Fair (and to the Old Plovdiv), and at the end of it he is expected to become the owner, gaining full control with 79.36% of the shares of “Mezhdunaroden fair”. – Plovdiv”. Legally. And together with the control goes 352 decares along the banks of Maritsa, which the citizens of Plovdiv fear will turn into a construction site. Gergov promises in return 2% of the shares and 6 acres for the construction of an opera house.
On December 19, 2022, a decision was voted by which Plovdiv under the Varna Municipality would contribute its share of 29% in the Fair to Gergov’s company “Paldin Turinvest”. Councilors from GERB, BSP, DPS and part of BZNS “Alexander Stamboliyski” voted for this decision, which gives complete control to Georgi Gergov. The extraordinary meeting of the Municipal Council in Plovdiv scheduled for today, January 9, whose purpose was to cancel the previous decision at the end of 2022, has been postponed. The first scheduled meeting was also postponed – on January 3. And today, as on January 3, there was no quorum in the hall due to the absence of the groups of GERB and “Authentic Left BSP”, known as “Gergov’s BSP”. The general meeting of the shareholders of “Paldin Turinvest” with a proposal to increase the capital through the gate of the shares of the municipality of Varna is also scheduled for today.
Simple schemes with “your people”
These schemes do not require special intelligence or business acumen. The only condition is that they are within reach of the people to determine positions in the state and the judicial system, whose buttons must be pushed in order for the businessman to receive the state asset that you ordered. It is valid for privatization, public procurement, and in-house procedures. That is why in Bulgaria the word oligarch is used more often for the nationally responsible native capitalists than the words businessman and entrepreneur.
The unexpectedly good combination in Plovdiv is not only GERB, but also BSP, as well as several mayors. The list begins with the former son MP Ivan Chomakov, who in 1999 became the mayor of Plovdiv as a candidate of the SDS. Let us recall that in the year since the last government of the BSP (as part of the triple coalition) the Ministry of Economy was the principal of the Plovdiv Fair. Under Chomakov, “Paldin Turinvest” was created as a public-private partnership between the municipality and Gergov – 75% to 25%, but later with an increase in capital, he acquired a majority share. “Paldin Turinvest” has the nicest houses from Old Plovdiv. Later, Gergov looked for Chomakov as the head of Eurocom TV, which he bought in 2008. And a certain Deputy Minister of Economy in Stanishev’s cabinet – Kornelia Ninova, Georgi Gergov helped win the chairmanship of BSP.
Year of local elections
Plan for autumn local elections are a catalyst for civil protests. In them, “Democratic Bulgaria” and “We continue the change” (PP) are the main competitors of GERB, who will challenge the monopoly ì in the large regional centers. This battle does not presuppose a partnership at the executive level – whatever cooperativeness GERB may have demonstrated to create the third-term government. The reputational damage will be for DB and PP, while GERB will escape unscathed. For Boyko Borisov’s party, influence in the local government is the main goal, and it will strive with all its might and means to preserve everything as much as possible.
The case of the Plovdiv fair is significant. If the triple coalition unties the hands of the state for the Plovdiv fair, GERB is not far behind. In 2016, the second government of Borisov transferred the municipalities of Plovdiv and Varna free of charge to the ownership of the state-owned shares from the capital of “International Fair Plovdiv” JSC. Plovdiv Municipality receives 20.63% of the capital, and Varna – 29%, which later, on the initiative of Mayor Ivan Portnih (GERB), decided to transfer the company to Gergov. This happened despite Borisov opting out and looking for the municipalities to return the shares, and so did the Varna municipal council in 2017. But the 2017 decision was never implemented, and on December 10, 2021, the Varna municipal councilors took another decision – to transfer the case to Gergov.
Now the people of Plovdiv are protesting with demands: “Don’t give the fair to Georgi Gergov”. But the truth is that it was given away a long time ago, although it should be on the prohibition list for privatization without being used for the state.
The caretaker government of Stefan Yanev with three letters – dated October 26, December 8 and December 10, 2021 – is trying to stop the hidden privatization, demanding that an additional decision of the municipal council in Varna from May 2, 2017 be implemented and returned of the state shares, representing 29% of the capital of “International Fair Plovdiv”. Later, the deputy prime minister in the regular cabinet, Kornelia Ninova, is looking for this – because she and Gergov have been in conflict for years, and two years ago the BSP excluded the businessman from its ranks. Meanwhile, the Supreme Administrative Court decided that Georgi Gergov should receive the shares of Varna municipality.
Created under Stambolov, charizan of a Russian consul
The Plovdiv exhibition, one of the symbols of Plovdiv, is the result of the efforts of the government of Stefan Stambolov with a decision made 130 years ago. Stambolov – a participant in the Unification, an opponent of the policy of tsarist Russia, a builder of post-liberation Bulgaria – is named after a square in front of the Plovdiv City Hall, where citizens protested against the gifting of the Fair to the honorary Russian consul Gergov.
The proposal of “Democratic Bulgaria” is to make the Plovdiv fair a cultural monument in order to preserve it. But the classification procedures of the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage are long. Some tobacco warehouses in Plovdiv did not wait for them – the excavators attacked them.
What did the municipal budgets receive because of their generosity to Gergov? Dividends, investments in the Varna “hole” to become a shopping mall with an underground museum and so on? There are no dividends, the hole, the deal for which was approved by the votes of the advisers from GERB and DPS, is a hole.
Now GERB claim that they have made decisions to fight corruption, and Borisov is calling for some sort of social contract between the parties. And what do the oligarchs think?
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This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and DV as a whole.