"No activity performed." How BGN tens of millions for incineration of animal remains disappeared

An inspection of the new management of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has found flagrant violations in contracts for animal carcass disposal activities carried out by two companies – Blue Cross 2016 and Eco BG SJP.

Numerous irregularities in contracting and executing this activity became apparent in 2019 from ACF and Genka Shikerova’s investigation “War of carcasses.” 

The analysis of the ACF experts found that since 2018 the activity of animal waste disposal has been completely monopolized by the two companies, clearly violating the law. From 2018 to 2021, the two companies illegally received from the BFSA over BGN 89 million for the disposal of quantities of animal waste for which they had no capacity.

For years, BFSA hid information about the capacity and location of the plants, as well as how exactly it controlled the activities of the two companies. Access to this information was extremely difficult and sporadic, following a court decision on a case-by-case basis.

The inspection of the BFSA now reveals that for 30-50% of the funds paid to the two companies, no work has been carried out. The inspection also found animals that had been incinerated twice and evidence of thousands of cases of carcasses that had been burned 30, 40, and even 400 days after the animal was registered as dead. It is also unclear how many of the animals recorded on the paper were actually incinerated and how many were buried in the ground in violation of the law and safety regulations.

In 2019, the ACF referred numerous violations of the contracts and annexes with the two companies to the Public Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA) and the Prosecutor’s Office. In 2021, it was revealed that the PFIA had sanctioned the BFSA for breaches in the contracts with the two animal waste disposal companies but refused to provide us with the inspection report.

It is not yet clear whether there are any results from the inspection launched by the Prosecutor’s Office.

You can see more about the case here:

The full article by Genka Shikerova in Free Europe can be read here