The municipality of Ruse wants to use state funds to purchase an empty private truck parking lot near the border

During a tense emergency meeting on Tuesday, February 3, the Municipal Council in Ruse approved Mayor Pencho Milkov's proposal to purchase the facilities of the private company TIR Parking Ruse. The deal, valued at €10 million, is expected to be financed entirely with targeted funds allocated from the state budget.

The decision was passed with 34 votes in favor, 9 against, and 3 abstentions, but was met with sharp accusations of corruption and attempts to bail out a private business with taxpayers' money.

So far, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Regional Development have not released any information on whether they really intend to finance the deal. Our team has sent a request to the ministries and is awaiting a response.

The mayor's arguments

Mayor Pencho Milkov justified his request with the need for the municipality to gain full control over the key infrastructure near the Danube Bridge. According to him, the facility, built on municipal land with a 30-year building permit, is strategic because of its proximity to the future Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway and the planned intermodal terminal.

The mayor argued that the municipality would immediately become the sole owner of the land and improvements, rather than after 27 years. The operator's offer price was reduced to €10 million after negotiations and "hints of expropriation." According to him, the deal will cost the local budget nothing, as it relies on state funding. The municipality has sent letters to the Ministry of Finance, which replied that a decision must be taken by the Municipal Council. The correspondence has been going on for about a year.

In January, 2,700 heavy goods vehicles entered the site, even though there was almost no traffic in the first week of January. This data will be given to the municipality and you will decide what to do with this site," Milkov commented, addressing the councilors.

The opposition's arguments

Strong opposition to the deal came from the groups "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (PP-DB) and "Revival." Their main arguments focused on the fact that after Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen area, the need for truck parking lots has fallen dramatically, and the facility stands almost empty.

Rena Stefanova (PP-DB) commented that the decision is harmful and a corrupt practice. The municipality owns the land and, according to the contract, the buildings will remain its property after the term expires or in case of non-performance. Stefanova announced that the decision will be appealed before the Administrative Court in Ruse.

Why should we pay €10 million for something we can acquire for free if the company stops paying its installments?

Marian Dimitrov (Vazrazhdane) commented that public resources will be used to save a private business, as the company is not making enough profit after Schengen.

It smacks of corruption," Dimitrov commented.

The background to the car park

Media investigations (Capital newspaper, Anti-Corruption Fund, Radio Free Europe) have long linked Tir Parking Ruse with Razmig Chakarian – Ami and Christoforos Amanatidis – Taki.

We recall that before joining Schengen, the Municipality of Ruse decided to build two buffer parking lots, with the publicly announced reason being to help relieve heavy traffic and free the city streets from lines of trucks.

In 2022, the local authorities announced a procedure for leasing 163 decares of municipal land in exchange for a 30-year building right. The municipality selected the company TIR Parking Ruse to build the facility, which subsequently also took over the management of the so-called virtual queue.

Immediately afterwards, media investigations revealed that the scheme was being repeated at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing point. According to the publications, the companies that participated in the tender procedure are directly or indirectly linked to Razmig Chakarian-Ami, who is associated with the operators of the Kapitan Andreevo parking lot and, until recently, the phytosanitary control laboratory there.

At the end of 2023, Radio Free Europe reported that the municipality had given up millions in potential profits in favor of the private company. At the time, the local authorities stated that they could not predict what the profit from the facility would be. According to Mayor Pencho Milkov, when the contract with the company that built the parking lot was signed, the municipality received BGN 1 million in 2022. He claimed that BGN 600,000 would be paid into the budget each year by the private investor for the transferred building rights.

The company built the parking lot in less than six months. The problem with the queues was solved, and the municipality received about BGN 2.8 million in revenue from the company under the contract for these three years," Milkov explained at Tuesday's meeting.

In 2024 the National Union of Road Transporters in Romania reported that their trucks were spending seven days at the border and accused the private operator of non-transparent management of the so-called virtual queue. Romanian transporters even demanded that our country be separated on the road to the Schengen area.

Shortly thereafter, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) decided to investigate the company "Tir Parking Ruse" for possible abuse of a dominant position. However, there has been no progress in the proceedings since then.

Meanwhile, the state had the idea to build such parking lots at the borders.

What's next?

The Municipal Council's decision now passes the ball to the Council of Ministers. If the state releases the funds by February 15, the deadline for the private offer, the deal will be finalized. In the meantime, however, a legal battle initiated by the opposition is expected, which could halt the implementation of the decision.

Translated with DeepL.