The Anti-Corruption Fund has asked the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works to decide if the objects on the beach “Smokinya” violate the legal norms
The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) has sent an alert to the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works(MRRB) regarding the unauthorized construction on Smokinya beach, requesting the Minister to rule on whether the newly constructed objects on the beach constitute a “relocatable object” or a “construction” and whether they violate legal norms. By law, the Minister of Regional Development provides methodological guidance and supervision over the overall spatial planning activity and coordinates the activities of the construction control authorities.
“We believe that the object which is built on the territory of the Smokinya beach does not meet the legal definitions of a relocatable object. We want the Minister of Regional Development to get acquainted with the facts of the case and come up with clear instruction for strict implementation of the law,” says Lora Georgieva from the ACF legal program.
Publications about the construction activities carried out by the concessionaire of the Smokinya beach appeared in May 2021. The first to report the case was Eng. Ioan Karaterzian of the Chamber of Surveyors in Bulgaria, who claimed that the activities of installation and assembly of the site were construction activities and required a building permit. For his part, the representative of the concessionaire of the strip, Ivan Alexiev, defends the claim that it is not construction, but “installation of a movable object” for which all the necessary documents and permits have been issued.
In their signal to the Minister, the ACF experts draw attention to the fact that during the placement and assembly of the building on the Smokinya beach, reinforced concrete single foundations were used to anchor the object to the ground. These foundations make the object impossible to move in space so that it loses the characteristics of a movable object.
The ACF also insisted that the type of area on which the ‘movable object’ is placed – in this case, a sea beach – must be taken into consideration when considering this case. The Law on the Spatial Development of the Black Sea Coast (LSSC) has as its main objective the protection of the natural landscape of the Black Sea coast (Article 2(6) of the LSSC) and a mandatory prohibition of construction activities on the territory of the sea beach (Article 10). It is therefore unacceptable to anchor relocatable objects on the sea beach using prefabricated reinforced concrete foundations.
The ACF experts also consider that the object to be assembled on the territory of the Smokinya beach does not correspond to any of the types of movable objects explicitly listed in the Regulation of the Municipality of Sozopol on movable objects[1], therefore its construction is not allowed, even as a ‘movable object’.
“There are serious doubts that the installation of the objects on the beach “Smokinya” violated the provisions of several laws and regulations. We urge the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works to carry out his functions of methodological guidance and control, giving a clear interpretation of the inadmissibility of the construction of such objects on the sea beaches. The construction activities on the beach “Smokinya” should be stopped and the objects should be removed from the beach area,” stated the ACF.
“We believe that the adequate resolution of the current case is of utmost importance for the protection of the sea beaches, for the development of tourism, as well as for the establishment of the principle of legality and protection of the public interest in the long term,” says Boyko Stankushev, Director of the ACF.
In addition to the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, the ACF also submits reports to the Mayor of Sozopol and the Minister of Tourism, in their capacity as control authorities in case of violations committed on the territory of the sea beach.