Lora Georgieva: The State is Ignoring the Problem with the Compulsory Private Parking Facilities at the Borders

This morning, Lora Georgieva, legal expert with the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF), spoke to Nova TV  about the compulsory private parking facilities located along Bulgaria’s international borders:

“The problem with these parking facilities has persisted over many years. What we are seeing now is the multiplication of the model. Now, the issue is no longer evident at the border with Turkey but at the border with Romania. The parking facility at the border crossing near Danube Bridge 1 near Ruse has been operational since June 2023.

The state is just passive, allowing these practices [forcing heavy vehicle drivers to use the paid parking facilities owned by private companies] to continue. In some instances, police officers approach the drivers who refuse to use the private parking lots and pay their fees, telling them: “Come on, let’s not create problems!”.

The problem is not just the fee itself, although it is also concerning. For example, foreign transport companies are forced to pay a fee, which is three times the amount of what is owed by Bulgarian companies – something which is absolutely illegal.

In addition, the operators of the parking facilities are not paying any VAT to the public budget. The purchase receipts handed to drivers clearly show that no VAT is added to the fee. This means that the company collecting the fees is not paying VAT. We alerted the authorities to this problem last year when we recorded the transactions using a hidden camera. There has been no reaction. The VAT issue is within the remit of the National Revenue Agency.

The Ministry of Interior is also responsible. They told us that they are not present at the border crossings and that no policemen are controlling traffic there. However, there is police presence at these locations. We filmed them, and one can see them in the videos. They are either assisting the employees of the parking facilities or positioning themselves next to them to create the overall impression – and it is especially easy to confuse foreigners – that the private company employees and the police work together. They represent the state. This is how it seems.

The trade registry and other public databases clearly show that there are links between the company that manages the parking facility at Kapitan Andreevo and the one involved in the facility near the Danube Bridge border crossing. The financier Emil Harsev is a partner in both companies and owns a 40 per cent stake in one of them.

We are talking about serious profits – last year 1,000,000 heavy vehicles passed through.

The Ministry of Interior and State Agency National Security (SANS) should investigate since this concerns Bulgaria’s national security.

In essence, this is a monopoly since it is impossible to cross the border without the numbered ticket issued at the parking facility. It is impossible to cross the national border. Drivers who stop at different parking facilities must deal with administrative hurdles.

In Ruse, the municipality has signed a particularly disadvantageous contract, essentially gifting 115 decares of municipal land to a private company for 30 years. There is no information to suggest that the municipality is receiving any revenue from the parking facility.

Such facilities exist at the crossings near Ruse, Vidin and Kapitan Andreevo. We know there is another one at Lesovo, but we lack information on whether the same company operates it.

Some officials seem to be blind to what is happening, others are actively cooperating.”

Four minutes after the interview with Lora Georgieva aired, the Council of Ministers announced it would discuss the problems with the private parking facilities at an urgent session.

The ACF commends Mr. Glavchev’s decision to request reports from four key ministries as well as SANS and the NRA.

We would like to remind the authorities that the Directorate for National Supervisory Control also has a responsibility to act. As ACF revealed in the autumn of 2023, the two parking facilities near Ruse are illegal, as they were built without the necessary permits.

We expect swift institutional reactions and answers to the questions of who the public officials are who harmed the public interest and what mechanisms a group of persons with links to the underground used to take over Bulgaria’s borders.

The entire interview is available here.

Watch ACF’s investigation into the parking facility near Ruse: Game of Parking Lots

The second part of the investigation is available here.