The Regional Governor of Lovech, Viktor Stoychev, has filed a claim in the District Court, with which he wants to annul the contract from 2017 for the provision of land from the former barracks to the Municipality of Lovech by the state for the purpose of building a city park, reported BTA.
According to him, the reason is non-fulfillment of the contract, which includes a clause according to which, in the event of non-fulfillment of the provisions within five years of the acquisition of the property, the Municipality undertakes to transfer ownership of it to the state.
Stoychev clarified that it is a matter of land, representing real estate with an area of 4,382 square meters, built up with 13 buildings. The issue was resolved in court after the Municipal Council did not decide to voluntarily return the land to the state and immediately start a procedure for a new grant for a five-year period to the Municipality.
"Apparently, the mayor and I were not convincing enough in front of the municipal councilors to engage such support in the amount of three-quarters of the votes for the decision to be accepted," Stoychev pointed out. In his words, he attacked the 2017 contract for the fourth plot.
"There is an interpretation by various state bodies that since the measure has not been implemented for the entire field, regardless of the fact that there is no deadline for their provision for the remaining three quarters of the barracks, it should take action to return them to the state. When such a request comes from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, I will take action for the entire field," the regional governor also said. He added that he will continue the talks with the Municipality.
"We will try to get the Municipal Council to make a decision to transfer the entire property of the barracks to the state. If this is achieved, I am inclined to withdraw the complaint", added Stoychev.
The Chairman of the Municipal Council in Lovech, Stefan Tiholov, specified for BTA that the first point of the proposal, which the municipal administration submitted for consideration and voting, was to make the property from public municipal property to private municipal property. After this was not accepted by the necessary majority, the remaining points were dropped, namely for the free transfer of the property through a donation to the ownership of the state, after which the Mayor of Lovech municipality should take immediate action on the reverse free acquisition in favor of Lovech Municipality.
"If we were in a different political situation, maybe this decision would have been accepted. Some of the municipal councilors did not support this decision, driven by the fear that if we transfer the property to the state in this way, given the political situation and the uncertainty as to whether we will have a regular government, it became uncertain whether the state would return the property to us," Tikholov commented.
In his words, the regional governor, as a representative of the state, is obliged to file such a case. According to Viktor Stoychev, the consequences of this are several. "First, we are conducting a case against the Municipality, which is a negative marker in principle. Second, we pay a court fee – these are expenses of 7-8 thousand BGN of our money. Finally, the case will block the possibility of realizing the project included in the annex to the state budget, namely to become a city park within 2025-2026, Stoychev said.
Tikholov explained to BTA that the Municipality applied with a project for 13 million BGN, but now no one will provide this funding until the matter is resolved by the court. "Financing comes from the state budget, and we are currently suing the state," the chairman of the Municipal Council also stated and added that, according to him, there will soon be no park on this land.
The mayor of the municipality, Stracimir Petkov, indicated that for him "the barracks is currently a very ugly park". Asked a few days ago at a press conference why the municipal councilors from the various parties that support him voted against his proposal, the mayor stated that everyone bears their political responsibility, but the talks continue.
According to Petkov, despite people's fears that the project will not be implemented, he believes that it will happen within 2025-2026.
However, the Deputy Mayor of Lovech, Petar Marinov, explained that the Municipality cannot transfer and donate municipal public property and dispose of them. "Even if a decision is made by the Municipal Council or by the court to transfer the property, technical procedures follow, which will take three years," Marinov added.
Stracimir Petkov also said that he will give a special press conference on the subject of the barracks.