advertisement
Sat, May 26 2012
Illegal luxury buildings will be demolished or confiscated, Bulgarian PM says
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov
Photo: Krassimir Youskeseliev
A complex of buildings in the Bulgarian town of Ivailovgrad, reportedly put up illegally by customs officials and dubbed by the media the "ministry of joy" would be either demolished or confiscated, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has pledged.
National Revenue Agency officials have been carrying out aerial inspections of luxury properties, starting in the wealthier areas of the capital city Sofia and moving on to Plovdiv and some of the villages near the central Bulgarian city.
Their next stop will be the seaside, reports said. Earlier in 2010, the National Revenue Agency had a busy time at Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, uncovering income hidden by restaurants, bars and other places of entertainment. Now the agency will be back, by helicopter, to inspect luxury housing.
Borissov said that if the owners of the properties built illegally in Ivailovgrad were allowed to legitimise them, it would create the wrong message. Reports quoted Borissov as suggesting that the owners of the Ivailovgrad properties had been donating money to political parties.
On October 10, President Georgi Purvanov called for the revenue agency to collect as much data as possible about properties suspected of being illegal.
A healthy and strong counry could not detect and decide on real estate from the air, Purvanov was quoted by news agency Focus as saying.
"The houses of these people are the top of the pyramid. Let’s see what’s below this pyramid. If the Government and the Prime Minister really are determined to find a solution to this issue, then let’s see who has won what from the transition period – the factories, the banks. Let’s see the big swap deals, as it seems as if this issue has been covered up. They forgot about it even though it was one of their (Borissov’s party’s) pre-election promises," Purvanov said.
On October 7, Rosen Bachvarov, head of the National Revenue Agency communication directorate, said that tax inspectors had taken pictures of 100 luxurious houses in the city of Plovdiv and the nearby villages of Markovo and Belashtitsa.
He said that most of the houses were owned by public servants employed by a ubdivision of the Finance Ministry. He said that some of the houses had areas of more than 2000 sq m, and had lakes and exotic animals.
Also on October 7, Bulgarian media said that a new inventory of real estate in Bulgaria would be needed after the construction boom of 2006.
Properties were last declared in detail in 1998, according to Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa.
To save money, tax inspectors were planning to link the information systems of municipalities with those of the revenue agency.
"This will cost less and will be easier for people," National Revenue Agency executive director Krassimir Stefanov was quoted by 24 Chassa as saying.
National Revenue Agency officials have been carrying out aerial inspections of luxury properties, starting in the wealthier areas of the capital city Sofia and moving on to Plovdiv and some of the villages near the central Bulgarian city.
Their next stop will be the seaside, reports said. Earlier in 2010, the National Revenue Agency had a busy time at Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, uncovering income hidden by restaurants, bars and other places of entertainment. Now the agency will be back, by helicopter, to inspect luxury housing.
Borissov said that if the owners of the properties built illegally in Ivailovgrad were allowed to legitimise them, it would create the wrong message. Reports quoted Borissov as suggesting that the owners of the Ivailovgrad properties had been donating money to political parties.
On October 10, President Georgi Purvanov called for the revenue agency to collect as much data as possible about properties suspected of being illegal.
A healthy and strong counry could not detect and decide on real estate from the air, Purvanov was quoted by news agency Focus as saying.
"The houses of these people are the top of the pyramid. Let’s see what’s below this pyramid. If the Government and the Prime Minister really are determined to find a solution to this issue, then let’s see who has won what from the transition period – the factories, the banks. Let’s see the big swap deals, as it seems as if this issue has been covered up. They forgot about it even though it was one of their (Borissov’s party’s) pre-election promises," Purvanov said.
On October 7, Rosen Bachvarov, head of the National Revenue Agency communication directorate, said that tax inspectors had taken pictures of 100 luxurious houses in the city of Plovdiv and the nearby villages of Markovo and Belashtitsa.
He said that most of the houses were owned by public servants employed by a ubdivision of the Finance Ministry. He said that some of the houses had areas of more than 2000 sq m, and had lakes and exotic animals.
Also on October 7, Bulgarian media said that a new inventory of real estate in Bulgaria would be needed after the construction boom of 2006.
Properties were last declared in detail in 1998, according to Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa.
To save money, tax inspectors were planning to link the information systems of municipalities with those of the revenue agency.
"This will cost less and will be easier for people," National Revenue Agency executive director Krassimir Stefanov was quoted by 24 Chassa as saying.
-
Print
-
Send via email
- Translate to
-
Share:
Comments
To post comments, please, Login or Register.
Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.
Bulgaria's tax agents uncover more than 1B leva in hidden turnover in August 2010
NRA operation revealed that the gross turnover from establishments in Bulgaria had increased by the whopping one billion leva in August 2010 alone, as opposed to the same period the previous year, reaching 14.4 billion to last year's 13.3 billion.
Bulgaria targets 'VAT Drainers', six tax collectors fired
Joint operation by National Revenue Agency and other agencies against VAT fraudsters follows announcement by NRA that six Bourgas tax officials have been dismissed.
Bulgarian construction sector marks an increase in Q2 2010 - report
Data reveals that construction permits increased by 46 per cent, while actual construction soared by about 70 per cent.
Seaside fishing
The National Revenue Agency hooks tax defaulters at summer resorts while seeking to gather confidential banking information into its net
More in this category
Saab awarded $2.4M military training equipment contract in Bulgaria
The funding is provided under the foreign military sales programme of the US army's Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training and Instrumentation.
Two Brits fined for hooliganism in Bulgaria’s Veliko Turnovo
The UK nationals were arrested after throwing beer bottles at people after being refused entry to a restaurant that had closed for the night.
Tourism: Bulgaria to spend 300M leva on restoring castles, ancient sites
Restoration and development projects include Madara Horseman, Arbanassi fortress, Magura cave.
Sovereign Order of Malta assists hospital in Bulgaria’s Iskrets
Simeon Saxe-Coburg and his spouse Margarita opened a new heating and insulation system at the Tsar Ferdinand Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases in Iskrets, a project implemented thanks to the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Sofia and the Nando Peretti Foundation.
Bulgarian Parliament passes confiscation act
According to the law's provisions, the commission will have the power to investigate individuals without prior notification and would not require a criminal conviction in order to launch an investigation.
© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.
Web Design by RIZN
Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted.
Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only
with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site.
Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com.
Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments.
The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the
price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes,
and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.
- Economedia Group portfolio:
- In Bulgarian:
-
Business:
Капитал,
Кариери,
Пазари,
Ho Re Mag,
Регал,
Градът.bg,
Одит,
Foton.bg,
Online shop
- News: Дневник, Европа, Foreign Policy - България
- IT: IDG.BG, Computerworld, PC World, CIO, Networkworld
- Entertainment: Бакхус
-
In English:
The Sofia Echo
1. I have long wondered why the Bulgarian tax authorities don't do what the British ones do, i.e. when someone appears to be living beyond their means, they do a calculation to work out how much income that person would need to live the way they do, they look at that person's tax return, and they send them a bill for the difference. It's about the only place where it is then up to the accused person to prove that they are "innocent", and it's very effective in catching tax cheats.
2. I can see no [...]
Read the full comment reason why the people who built the illegal buildings should not pay to have them destroyed and the debris removed. If they refuse, the authorities should go ahead with the destruction and then pursue the owner through the courts. Of course, that kind of supposes there would be courts not susceptible to corruption.
3. Re. Purvanov, my father-in-law was telling me today about a journalist who was targeted by the secret police some time ago for revealing that Purvanov owns a large apartment for which he apparently paid nothing. So maybe Purvanov is worried about aerial surveillance for reasons very close to home (as it were).
And what about the two luxury apart hotel complexes in Bansko that belong to Mr Borissov , obviously not affordable on what was then an MP's salary.
This government is doing what the government of Stanishev could not do. How can these thieves claim what belong to Bulgaria people and build on it. Bulgarians should suport this government in every aspect and help recover everything stollen by friends of b.c.p government called the big guys. Borisov government should also do something to stop those so call GOSKI MAFIAS from becoming rich by cutting and selling woods that belong to Bulgarian people.
Properties will be destroyed at what cost? Will they make the people who build all that also pay the bill for taking it all down and restore the place like it was before, or will there be some battlefield left after they just took what they could use themselves?
Purvanov says "a healthy and strong country could not decide on real estate from the air" Is he suggesting that Bulgaria has a healthy and strong economy? if so, wrong, it is far from it. I would also suggest that he is living in the past if he thinks 21st century air photography is not definable, yes it may need to be backed up by a personal investigation but, as a method of defining the areas and properties to investigate, it is a very good method.Where he is right is his statement that the government should also look "below this [...]
Read the full comment pyramid" It should be done not only with a view to prosecute those who have put up illegal buildings but that they are buildings that have been financed by gains from corruption as there is NO WAY government officials are paid enough to finance these projects. So, as we say in the UK the government can "kill two birds with one stone". Go to it Borissov.