Getting dirty

After several weeks of quiet but firm conflict between Holding Varna and the NGO, things suddenly became dirty and personal.

On September 1, Holding Varna verbally attacked one of the most active opponents of the project, local architect Kalina Pavlova. A company statement alleged that Pavlova had been "asking for financial compensation from us in exchange for stopping the public pressure on the project". It also accused Pavlova of pursuing her own agenda, one that was not in line with the new general urban development plan and that was biased towards the interests of owners of property close to hers. The company did not give more information about the evidence it said that it had, but said this would be forwarded to the relevant authorities.

The NGOs’ response came hours later, at a news conference where Holding Varna was alleged to have bribed a number of state officials in the process of securing the deal. According to Kuncho Bonev of the local United Civil Association (UCA), Kontrov had been given 750 000 euro to sign the deal, while others, including a former minister, a deputy minister and one of Kontrov’s deputies, had accepted bribes totalling several million euro. Bonev, who like Holding Varna offered no evidence in support of his accusations, said that he had been tipped off by employees at Kontrov’s office. In a statement, Holding Varna rejected the accusations and said they were slander. Nevertheless, local prosecutors decided to open a docket on the issue because of "the great public interest".

On September 8, a break in the NGOs’ ranks happened, giving Holding Varna the advantage in the fight. The UCA said that it supported the First Alley project and wanted to distance itself from the words of its deputy chairperson Kuncho Bonev.

"We have no facts supporting Bonev’s words," Dnevnik quoted UCA’s Ignat Radenkov as saying.

"The whole country is mired in corruption, and the Holding Varna deal is probably no exception, but we have no concrete facts about it," Radenkov said.

Radenkov’s words came out the very same day that Zelenite party held a protest outside the Regional Governor’s building in Varna. Over the next few days, the project’s opponents kept pursuing media coverage, and on September 15 they managed to get the support of Roth, who sent Prime Minister Boiko Borissov an open letter on the issue.
Roth asked Borissov to intervene in the case because "brave Varna citizens are subject to threats for the fact that they have opposed the interests of a powerful organisation - TIM".

According to Roth, TIM was "the essence of modern organised crime, an example of what ‘Mafia Borghese’ means  - a structure which had penetrated the top circles of society".
Holding Varna’s answer was that Roth had been misled by people who had personal and financial interests in stopping the deal, while Interior Minister Tsvetan Tstvetanov said that no one had filed any kind of tip-off or complaint against TIM. 

Business as usual
While NGOs were trying to find all possible ways to hinder the project, Holding Varna was busy with keeping to schedule. On August 24, it announced an architectural competition for the conceptual design of First Alley project. The winner will be selected by a jury of 14 architects and other specialists, among whom, Holding Varna said, it had invited architect Kalina Pavlova. On September 17, it was announced that 37 design offices had bought contest papers, among them three foreign companies, from Germany, Spain and Italy.

All draft proposals must be submitted by October 30, after which they will be presented to Varna’s public. This was evidence that Holding Varna had no intention of giving up the project and despite the actions of local NGOs, the First Alley investment plan will go on as scheduled as long as the company has money. According to Holding Varna, financing was not a problem.

Nor, for that matter, does competition seem a problem. Holding Varna is alone in having come up with a proposal for the area.