Outgoing Government Prepares Handover of Public Funds Worth EUR 10 Million to Company Linked to Underground Figures

Following a decision of the Municipal Council of Ruse, the outgoing government is expected to approve the allocation of EUR 10 million to Ruse Municipality for the purchase of the large buffer parking facility, linked with underground figures Taki and Ami, in the vicinity of Danube Bridge 1.

The parking facility was constructed following a tender procedure with only two investors. The two companies appear to be linked to one another. Both the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) and the Capital weekly conducted investigations into the procedure through which, effectively, Ruse Municipality provided 114 decares of municipal land and delegated a service with guaranteed multi-million profits to the company Tir Parking Ruse Ltd. To date, the company belongs to Turkish citizen Mehmet Savash and the estate of the late financier Emil Hursev. It is Hursev who is believed to be the link with underground figures Hristoforos Amanatidis “Taki” and Razmig Chakrian “Ami”.

It is unknown whether the present investment proposal of the municipality has been subjected to an economic analysis. There are also no convincing arguments as to why Ruse’s mayor and Municipal Council are seeking to acquire a facility which they commissioned to a private investor linked with Taki and Ami only three years ago. Back then, Ruse’s mayor was claiming that the municipality lacked the resources to build and manage such a facility.

Now, the mayor is asking the central government to provide EUR 10 million for the purchase of the parking facility. This happens just a few years after he signed a 30-year contract with the private company granting them the right to construct the parking structure on municipal land free of charge. As per the contract, which expires in 2052, Tir Parking Ruse is entitled to the profits from operating the facility, while Ruse Municipality receives a lump sum of EUR 300,000 per year, regardless of the number of users. The parking facility is supposed to become municipal property after the expiration of the contract.

Last week, the website for regional journalism Za istinata published correspondence between Ruse Municipality, Tir Parking Ruse and the Ministry of Finance, showing that the negotiations about the purchase have been ongoing for at least a year. Despite this, the fact that the parties had been negotiating became public knowledge just an hour before the start of an extraordinary session of the committees of the Ruse Municipal Council.

The session was first announced with a different agenda, however, the purchase of the parking facility was added as a last-minute item. In the end, the economic majority within the municipal council, comprised of GERB, MRF – New Beginning, BSP, There is Such a People, VMRO, UDF, and the Union of Free Democrats adopted the mayor’s proposal. Only the representatives of PP – DB and Revival voted against.

As per the adopted proposal, Ruse Municipality will acquire the parking facility, which was constructed on municipal land, in exchange for EUR 10 million to be paid immediately.  Furthermore, the investor will not claim damages as per the contract granting them building rights, while the municipality will forego nearly EUR 8 million in fees, owed to it until 2052. The investor’s offer for the purchase of the parking facility in exchange for EUR 10 million is valid until 15 February.

It appears that the state is preparing to pay EUR 10 million to a company which has not published a single annual financial report since its establishment. Therefore, there is no public information about the company’s turnover for the past three years, as well as its profit.

ACF recalls the economic analysis of the financial expert Georgi Angelov, which the organisation published in October 2023. According to Angelov’s estimates, the parking facility was likely to generate at least BGN 10 million in the first year of operation. This means that the state and the municipality not only missed on an opportunity to operate a valuable municipal asset but will also spend significant public funds and forego a significant amount in fees in order to compensate a private investor for a project from which they have already generated significant profit.