Clowns

After Boiko Borissov became Prime Minister on July 27, he ordered his ministers to undertake a full probe into their predecessors’ work. Naturally, such a check included the Defence Ministry. Shocking headlines soon hit the front pages. Some of Mladenov’s revelations were amazing. He even organised a media tour around the ministry together with Borissov and a group of reporters. Among the discoveries was the ministry’s new luxurious dining room for which, according to Mladenov, the ministry paid three million leva.

This included a dining table worth 1000 leva and an oven worth 3000 leva. Mladenov, however, had more discoveries on his list. He pinpointed the sports facilities inherited from the communist era as a scheme for draining the ministry’s budget. One particular case was the Ministry’s National Sport Association.

It was formed in 2003 during Svinarov’s term and headed by Tsonev. Its purpose was to manage all Ministry sport facilities and get all the profits from them while all expenses were covered by the Ministry.

Among the facilities is the Cherveno Zname sport complex in Sofia, near Tsarigradsko Chausse, which features a volleyball hall and a swimming pool.
Another example of the Ministry’s spending habits was a contract with a private facility company hired to entertain holidaying military personnel. The company’s fee, 546 480 leva, far exceeded the going rate for such services.

The Air Force has not been exempt from alleged corrupt schemes. In an interview with Bulgarian-language 24 Chassa daily, newly appointed head of Bulgarian armed forces Simeon Simeonov said that 13 million leva had been cut from the air forces’ budget and spent on buying a production and assembly line for military hangars. The line was made by US company MIC Industry and, according to Simeonov, the Bulgarian army did not need it. MIC Industry was the only bidder in the tender organised by the ministry.   
Again, according to 24 Chassa, the ministry had paid eight million leva on constructing four so-called sport centres in Karlovo, Shoumen, Graf Ignatievo and Kroumovo air bases.

On paper, these were sport centres but, in reality, 24 Chassa said they were gyms that could not possibly cost that much.
When it emerged that the ministry’s 2009 budget had already been overshot by 250 million leva, Borissov said that what happened at the Ministry was a clear case of robbery and that a few former ministers had made military personnel look like clowns.

The pink issue
On top of all this came the two BMW 540 in Ashes of Roses colour, which were discovered in the ministry’s vehicle park by Mladenov. Both were bought second-hand in their original black colour. They were subsequently repainted in the extremely rare and expensive colour, a service that cost about 4000 leva. Some media, such as the Bulgarian-language Standart daily, quoted their own sources from the Ministry that the two cars had only been repainted because a dress worn by Svinarov’s daughter at a prom in 2004 was the same colour.

The cars were allegedly used by Svinarov’s daughter to take her to the prom, Standart said. Later, Svinarov denied having ordered or allowing the purchase of the two vehicles and their subsequent repainting. He failed to remember the model of the car that took his daughter to her prom but said that it was something similar.