By the end of May this year, another BGN 9 million, given in advance in 2020 for its construction, will be reimbursed
More than BGN 3,2 million including VAT have already been credited to the account of Montages EAD. This has been made possible after the state-owned enterprise, which is a subsidiary of the State Consolidation Company (DKK), and Planex – GES DZZD signed an agreement whereby the consortium, the contractor for the unbuilt Government Complex, agreed to repay a new amount to the state-owned company. The agreement also provides for a second payment of BGN 9 million including VAT to be transferred by 31 May 2024 at the latest.
It should be recalled that as early as the end of 2019, a contract was signed between Montagi EAD and the consortium for the execution of works in connection with the construction of a government complex by the State Construction Committee, which was subsequently not implemented. The project has been awarded for implementation without a public tender and without financial justification, with Montages having paid nearly BGN 80 million including VAT in advance to the contractor in two instalments in 2020.
Following actions taken by the Minister for Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov for the recovery of these financial damages to DKK, already in January this year, the private company reimbursed to the state the first amount of BGN 45 million including VAT.
With regard to the difference between the amount advanced in 2020 by the private company and the funds returned to date, the parties have agreed to continue negotiations so that the remainder of the amount advanced in 2020 will also be reimbursed. This will be done either through negotiation and a new agreement or through court proceedings, as the State has all the arguments to recover the payment funds.
Actions to refer to the competent authorities all violations harming the State Consolidation Company over the years are also ongoing.
The Ministry of Economy and Industry (MEI) appealed against a decree of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office (SGP), by which it refused to initiate pre-trial proceedings in connection with an internal audit of the financial management and control systems of the process of granting, accounting and control of own funds of Eko Antracit EAD, spent for liquidation, conservation and reclamation activities.
Following the appeal by the MEI, the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office —Sofia (SAP) revoked the decision of the State Prosecutor’s Office, which refused to initiate pre-trial proceedings. The reasoning of the SAP is that the inspection carried out is not objective and the decree of the SGP is unjustified and unlawful.
Back in February, the Minister for Economy and Industry appealed to the Sofia Appeals Prosecutor’s Office against the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office Decree of December 2023, by which she refused to initiate pre-trial proceedings in connection with an internal audit of the financial management and control systems of the process for the allocation, accounting and control of own funds of Eko Antracit EAD, as the contracting authority, and Montages EAD, as the contractor, for the conclusion of a Framework Contract without applying the Public Procurement Act , to spend BGN 120 million on technical liquidation or conservation, technical and biological reclamation, water treatment and monitoring activities.
The first instance file was initiated following an audit report sent by the Ministry. The auditors found irregular practices related to non-compliance with Article 8(4) of the Regulations for the implementation of the public procurement Act (PPZOP) for the application of methodology in determining the price under the Framework Contract between Eko Antracit and Montagi. The following were found: assignment of activities under the framework contract in violation of the public procurement rules, assumption of contractual obligations without having planned the corresponding financial resources, inefficient spending of funds, inadequate planning of activities, including their costing, as well as lack of comparability of the activities performed by the companies — suppliers with those reported in the inspection reports of Montagi EAD.