The Sofia City Court heard three witnesses in the case against former Varna mayor Ivan Portnih on Wednesday. He is charged alongside former regional governor Stoyan Pasev and two public officials of the Executive Agency Maritime Administration with fraud related to the reconstruction of a non-existent fishing port. The charges allege that official documents were forged and false information provided in order to unlawfully obtain EUR 3.4 million in EU and national funds for a project aimed at improving the infrastructure of a purported fishing port on the outskirts of Varna, submitted by Varna Municipality as the beneficiary.
Witness Rositsa Popova told the court that because the project to build the port was under the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, she applied to participate through the academy, which subsequently signed her contract. She said the contract set out her rights and obligations and no one had influenced her in its preparation or signing.
She said she had studied ports along the southern and northern Black Sea coast because such projects are not common in Bulgaria. Popova said every project begins with research. Her role did not end with preparing the port construction project, as she also had tasks during its implementation.
Witness Lozana Vasileva said that between 2009 in 2013 she had served as deputy executive director and director of the State Fund Agriculture, and in 2013 as deputy agriculture and food minister. In that capacity, she was delegated the functions of head of the Managing Authority of the Agriculture Ministry’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Directorate.
Vasileva told the court that she had signed contracts in the maritime affairs and fisheries sector, while the State Fund Agriculture took over projects after contracting and handled the payments. She confirmed that she had approved the port project in her capacity as deputy minister.
Witness Ivan Dobrev told the court that he had been tasked with preparing the detailed development plan for the port. It was to define the boundaries of the property and provide for access to it. He carried out a geodetic survey of the land-based part of the port.
Dobrev said a property’s designated use is not determined by a detailed development plan. In this case, this meant there was nothing to prevent a detailed development plan for a port from being prepared for a site designated for use as a beach.
Court Hears Witnesses in Port Fraud Case against Former Varna Mayor 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-30 14:32:28
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BULGARIA NEWS – NEWS AGENCY 2009–2026 2026-09-30 14:32:28
