Will the prosecution dismantle the failed Plovdiv transport project, which swallowed BGN 44 million?



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– 4 years after the payments made and the lack of electronic collection, the state prosecutor’s office initiates a pre-trial process

– It is not ruled out that the target of the researchers could be the former mayor Ivan Totev, his deputy and classmate Zlatin Velev and especially the project director Borislav Krastev

The electronic boards at the stops still do not give complete information.

The electronic boards at the stops still do not give complete information.

For four years, Plovdiv residents have wondered where BGN 44 million went. That’s why the so-called transportation project was swallowed, which had to offer electronic charging, “smart” traffic lights, and accurate information on dashboards. Neither of these work properly.

Vending machines for electronic tickets and cards stand out as monuments.

Vending machines for electronic tickets and cards stand out as monuments.

Drivers continue to break tickets on flights, and sometimes so do drivers at risk of causing an accident. Traffic lights create chaos and heavy traffic jams instead of facilitating traffic, and stop signs still do not provide accurate information. All of this had to be ready in 2016 and run like clockwork. Nothing of that!

These days the Plovdiv district prosecutor’s office announced that it is initiating a pre-trial process for homeless people in the framework of the transportation project, implemented during the second term of former mayor Ivan Totev. All members of the chain who are in any way related to this effort will be questioned. Some will be called in as witnesses, others as perpetrators, to unravel the whole plan and find out who is to blame.

According to investigators, it is possible that former mayor Ivan Totev, his transport deputy Zlatin Velev, now a city councilor, and especially the project manager Borislav Krastev, are the target. He is considered one of the former mayor’s favorites. It was Krastev who signed all the protocols that the electronic charging system has been implemented and everything is fine, as a result of which the large payments have been made.

After the “successful” completion of the Transportation Project, Krastev was sent as head of the “Water Cycle” in Plovdiv, which is worth 120 million BGN. However, the team of the current mayor Zdravko Dimitrov replaced him. But the “valuable staff” did not remain on the streets. He was immediately hired to work at the state company Vik – Plovdiv, the company managed by Ivan Totev’s closest circle, headed by director Spartak Nikolov. Zlatin Velev’s friend from the excommunicated’s school years also takes refuge there.

And so, at this stage, the prosecution is more interested in an accident that happened at the Traffic Management Center in April 2016. Then the server explodes, which is why it is believed that this is the reason why all the system does not work, not even the “smart”. ”Traffic lights, no electronic load. There was a long silence about this accident.

Only at the beginning of Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov’s term was a signal sent to the prosecutor’s office. And now they are looking for the cause of the accident in question. It was as a result of the signal that the State Prosecutor’s Office initiated this process prior to the trial.

It is not yet clear who was to blame for the technical problem in April 2016. And the Traffic Management Center, located in the former hotel on Vanko 1, is part of the transportation project.

The Spanish company Indra has presented an economic claim in which it indicates that the electronic charge, which it introduced for 20 million BGN, did not start precisely because of the accident in question. Therefore, the prosecution says that its main objective is to establish who are the officials who have not taken sufficient care in the management and protection of the property in question.

According to the state prosecutor’s office, the old municipal administration has been neglected in the implementation of Indra’s new system. In 2015 and 2016, officials did not pay enough attention to the management and maintenance of the property entrusted to them and the work assigned to them in connection with the performance of a contract for “Construction, implementation and maintenance of the management system of public transport “. says in a statement from the prosecution.

What is the history?

The unfortunate transport project for the inhabitants of Plovdiv began on February 10, 2015. A competition was held by the municipality, whose mayor at that time was Ivan Totev, and a contract was signed with the Spanish company Indra for the system of electronic load. It won at a price of almost BGN 20 million with VAT. It is written that the project must be ready by February 10, 2016. The implementation period is 1 year and includes the delivery of equipment, installation and commissioning of the system – electronic boards to provide information on bus routes and Vending machines. of tickets and electronic cards.

From then until today, drivers charge passengers and signs at stops continue to mislead people.

However, the payment was made with the contractor and the protocols were signed by the project manager Borislav Krastev, authorized by Ivan Totev.

Indra is in charge of equipping the Traffic Management Center to install computers, validators, electronic cards and coin machines on all buses. Separately, you will need to place ticket and card vending machines at bus stops and in important public buildings. However, they remain as monuments.

It is curious that on November 20, 2015 Borislav Krastev signed a protocol and accepted that the electronic system tests were carried out successfully. A month later, he signed a document that the system works. A week later, the funds requested for reimbursement were approved. At the same time, no electronic load has been introduced into any bus. Electronic tickets and cards are not available for sale. Stops are not activated.

Only a few flights are in order and they are shown to representatives of the inspection body to inform that the system has been introduced on time. Thus, on March 22, 2016, all the contract funds were paid to Indra. Acquaintances say that when a team from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works arrived in Plovdiv on February 16 and 17, 2016 to check how electronic charging works, the inspectors were loaded onto a specially equipped bus with everything necessary. He drove them around the city. The inspectors were satisfied and wrote that everything was done correctly.

On February 10, 2016, journalists asked then-Mayor Ivan Totev why the electronic load was not working. He replied that there was a small problem, but that it would start on April 1 of that year. Since then, Plovdiv residents have been unable to purchase e-tickets. And they accepted the former mayor’s words as an April Fool lie. However, nowhere in all the documentation of the dismal transportation project is Ivan Totev’s signature found.



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