Supreme Administrative Court Rules Villa of Politician’s Mother is Illegal. All Eyes Now on the Mayor Supposed to Remove It

Last week, the Supreme Administrative Court issued a decision that ends the four-year-long legal saga involving the Rhodope Mountain villa of Zlatka Dobreva, the mother of politician Delyan Dobrev.

The Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) has long warned that the villa, which is located in the popular area of Atoluka near the village of Ravnogor, was being constructed without a valid permit. Last week, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the building is illegal, revoking a decision – which contradicts the law and lacks common sense – by Judge Eva Pelova at the Administrative Court – Pazardzhik.

The Court has ordered Zlatka Dobreva and Bratsigovo Municipality to cover the legal costs of the proceedings which were initiated in 2021 by an affected party whose interests the municipality had not been able to protect.

The decision places a clear responsibility on Nadezhda Kazakova, the mayor of Bratsigovo Municipality, to finally exercise her powers, taking the necessary steps to demolish the illegal structure.

“Repeatedly we have called on the mayor of Bratsigovo, Ms. Kazakova, to abide by the Spatial Development Act so that citizens are treated equally,” said Lora Georgieva, a legal expert with ACF. “Unfortunately, Ms. Kazakova’s actions or lack there of could not put a stop of the constuction activity, which from the autumn of 2023 onwards was taking place at an accelerated speed,  on behalf of Zlatka Dobreva.”

“Not only has Ms. Kazakova failed to respond to numerous reports – by the affected individual who initiated the legal action, by ACF, and by construction oversight bodies – that the building works were carried out without the proper permits, but also, subsequently, the municipality’s chief architect Dimitar Boyukliev issued paperwork certifying the villa suitable for habitation,” said Georgieva.

Last week ACF asked Ms. Kazakova what steps she intended to take to ensure that the illegal building is removed.

“Under the existing laws, no mechanisms exist allowing for buildings built illegally after 1986 to subsequently have their status changed,” said Georgieva. “The only option in such cases is to have such buildings demolished.”

ACF is still awaiting the mayor’s response so that the doubts raised of favouritism in the treatment of persons closely related to Delyan Dobrev, a prominent member of GERB, the political party that has also backed Ms. Kazakova, could be addressed.

According to ACF’s team, the responsibility for the absurd situation lies not only with Bratsigovo Municipality but also with Judge Pelova who spent four years on a case that is quite simple from a legal point of view. The case has reached the Supreme Administrative Court for the second time after Judge Pelova once terminated the proceedings citing lack of legal interest on behalf of the complainant. The decision was appealed and in June 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court remanded the case for reconsideration. Judge Pelova then held several hearings to gather evidence not relevant to the dispute, including evidence concerning properties belonging to the complainant. Pelova’s decision, issued on 19 April. 2024, failed to take into account the statements of opinion by the technical experts assigned to the case who had unequivocally stated that Zlatka Dobreva’s building was constructed illegally.

“We have stated many times already that, from a legal standpoint, the case involving this illegal building is not complex,” said Georgieva. “The questions that follow is why it took nearly four years to have this legal dispute resolved and whether Judge Pelova deliberately tried to slow down the proceedings in order to give Dobreva time to have the villa completed, thus presenting the competent public bodies with a fait accompli.”

The case dates back to 2019 when Zlatka Dobreva acquired a 30 square meter cabin in the popular area Atoluka. The wooden cabin was then demolished and since September 2023 intensive construction activities have been ongoing.

The project is illegal due to many factors. For example, Bratsigovo Municipality issued a design visa to reconstruct the wooden chalet. That structure was, however, demolished several days later. Despite this, at the end of 2020, the municipality issued a building permit to reconstruct the non-existent chalet.

In addition, Bratsigovo Municipality failed to abide by its legal obligation to inform the owners of adjacent properties about the redevelopment plans. Delyan Dobrev’s mother also violated the law since the intensive construction activity on the plot was happening while the building permits  were being challenged in several legal proceedings.

Boyko Stankushev, Director of the ACF, said that the organization will monitor how Bratsigovo Municipality and the other competent public bodies will implement the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court.

“Prior to this decision by the highest-instance court, Bratsigovo Municipality explained its inaction with the fact that the legal proceedings were ongoing – in itself a flawed argument. Now we have a final and very clear decision which revokes not only the building permit but the investment plan associated with it,” said Stankushev.

“This puts the spotlight firmly on Ms. Kazakova and the chief architect of Bratsigovo Municipality both of whom should be as unequivocal in the steps necessary to implement the court decision as was the panel of the Supreme Administrative Court that issued it.”