Civic association Together for Plovdiv“ stands behind the mass demands

Civic association „ Together for Plovdiv “ stands behind the mass demands of its fellow citizens for the resignation of the mayor Zdravko Dimitrov . The reason for the extreme protests of the people of Plovdiv against the figure of their mayor is the missed deadline for appealing the deal with „ International Fair-Plovdiv “.

The association recalls that the saga with the ownership of the leader of the exhibition industry in Southeast Europe began with the attempts to contribute the shares of the Municipality of Varna to the company „ Paldin Turinvest “ – the company through which Georgi Gergov manages the Fair and in which he contributed the shares of Varna . At the end of last year, the Municipal Council in Plovdiv tried to give the green light to the transfer. However, it turned out that the controversial decision also contains a serious legal gap , which, fortunately for the people of Plovdiv, does not allow Gergov to add the Fair as a pearl to his business crown. Namely, the requirement of Art. 28, para. 7 of the Law on Privatization and Post-Privatization Control , for which the express consent of the Municipal Council is required. So far, the only ally in the battle of the people of Plovdiv is the Registration Agency, which decided not to register the contribution on the grounds that the Municipality – although it owns only 25% of the capital, has the blocking quota in the sense of the Law on Privatization and Post-Privatization Control.

This article requires that in commercial companies in which there is a municipal/state participation, the share of the municipality, respectively the state, should not be reduced, unless there is an express consent to this from the Municipal Council or the Privatization Agency, explained the lawyers from the Civil Association „ Together for Plovdiv “. According to the Ministry of Economy, the transfer of shares owned by the Municipality to individuals or legal entities with less than 50 percent state or municipal participation in the capital, such as Plovdiv’s „ Puldin Turinvest “, constitutes a type of privatization. Therefore, in 2021, the then minister, Daniela Vezieva, warned the Municipal Council-Varna with a letter about their attempts to transfer their shares to Gergov and his company.

Currently, „ Paldin Tourinvest “ holds 50.36% of the shares of „ International Fair-Plovdiv “. The Municipality of Varna owns 29%, the state – 20.63%, and 0.01% belong to other shareholders.

In this regard, the Civic Association „ Together for Plovdiv “ asks:

„ How does the GERB political party, after publicly withdrawing its confidence in its mayor, Zdravko Dimitrov and demanding his resignation, really distinguish itself from his actions and those of his team? “

The civil association „ Together for Plovdiv “ also recalls that after the refusal of the Trade Register in January to reflect the increase of „ Paldin Turinvest “, the GERB group in the local parliament panickedly convened a meeting with the agenda “Discussion of the case with the International Fair – Plovdiv and making relevant decisions ” . A declaration was adopted by all 40 municipal councilors present and addressed to various institutions and political figures such as the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Mayor of Varna, Ivan Portnih and the Municipal Council-Varna, as well as the leaders of all political groups. In it, the councilors call for measures to be taken, with which the 29% shares of the Fair presented to the Municipality of Varna are returned free of charge to the state, and then – transferred to the city of Plovdiv.

However, despite their documented intentions, the inaction of these same municipal councilors causes bewilderment in the local community. For the second time and at a key moment for the city, when deadlines for the next court appeal in the case with Gergov are being pursued, the mayor Zdravko Dimitrov finds himself on creative leave.

His first „ escape “ from this incident was in January of this year, when shortly before Borisov asked him to resign, Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov promised in a phone call from Turkey, where he was on vacation, that he would implement the decision of the Council of Ministers within the deadline. The former mayor of Plovdiv, Ivan Totev and local leader of GERB , assured us of this. This April, the escape scheme supported his deputy with his absence on the day of the appeal. And the head of his legal team conveniently omitted to submit the „ supposedly “ long-written objection with the excuse that there was no one to sign it. After the escape of the persons responsible for this legal case, Boyko Borisov confirmed for the second time in the media that he denies the actions of Mayor Dimitrov .

However, how will the interest of the Municipality, respectively the state, be protected in its remaining as a shareholder in the largest exhibition center in Eastern Europe after the actions of the Mayor of the Municipality are already neglected by his superior and in reality no one can hold him accountable for actions or inactions?

„ After the withdrawal of support for the mayor, why didn’t Boyko Borisov also withdraw the experts of GERB, who hold a number of mayoral and other management positions in the Municipality of Plovdiv and continue to directly support the actions of the mayor, from which they actually differ? “ , asks „ Together for Plovdiv “.

Representatives of the organization are seeking the opinion of their fellow citizens regarding the political game being played in the Municipal Council .