A scandalous report by the National Security Agency of Bulgaria, marked "secret", is languishing in the drawers of agents of the native FBI. It reveals brutal security breaches at "Metropolitan" EAD and close ties between the head of the company, Prof. Stoyan Bratoev, and Russian companies subject to sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.
Bratoev's connection with Russia does not date back to yesterday, the 1954-born engineer graduated from the former Soviet Union in 1979.
The metro is also an object of national security importance and it is a matter of time before Bratoev is dismissed from his post in a rather unpleasant manner instead of with honors. Unfortunately, the engineer has also found himself in a number of awkward situations related to violations and abuses, his subordinates from Metropolitan“ EAD confide.
More than a year ago, the name of the metro director was implicated in a scandal
with tickets printed by the notorious BSP MP Petar Kanev. “Metropolitan“ fiercely resisted the introduction of the ticket system in the underground railway. According to insiders, there is no clear accounting of how many tickets are sold and whose pocket the proceeds go to.
Bratoev's fierce resistance to the accounting of metro tickets, which has delayed the entire electronic public transport system in Sofia for years, makes many doubt that the company's permanent director was directly involved in a scheme to siphon off large sums of money from the inaccurate number of tickets sold in the metro.
Informants from the Sofia Municipality claim that Stoyan Bratoev has long lost the trust of Mayor Vasil Terziev, but enjoys the support of municipal councilor and leader of “Save Sofia“ Boris Bonev. The two have been spotted having lunch in popular restaurants in the capital many times in the last year.
It was through “Metropolitan“ that Boris Bonev's political career in Sofia began. In 2018 It became known that Bonev and his associates had embezzled over 300 thousand leva from the metro for the production of signboards, which turned out to be laminated sheets of “A4“ format. At the moment, Boris Bonev is directly involved in the management and decision-making of the company “Metropolitan“ EAD.
It is claimed that the authorities are investigating the activities of “Save Sofia“ in the transport system of the capital, and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has initiated pre-trial proceedings against an unknown perpetrator for the time being. The case file has collected dozens of volumes with interrogations of witnesses and seized folders from the Sofia Municipality. In many of them, the name of the director of the Sofia metro, Stoyan Bratoev, also surfaced.
“Mr. Bonev directly called Eng. Bratoev and ordered him that the companies must win a specific order in the company. Bonev called him by his first name, and Bratoev called him "Boby" in a paternal way, a witness under an encrypted number claims in his testimony.
Another witness says with embarrassment: "I have a grandson and I am embarrassed to tell you about the relationship between Bonev and his lover Andrey Zografski. We are talking about a gay relationship. Both of them praised Bratoev as if he were their friend from "Save Sofia."
Due to the ongoing investigation, the names of the companies for which the leader of "Save Sofia" lobbied cannot be published for the time being.
Source: Weekend