IN RESPONSE TO MRS. KORNELIA NINOVA’S STATEMENT

The Secretary of the Executive Bureau of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Mrs. Kornelia Ninova, in the morning news block of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) ‘The Day Begins’, declared that the accusations which the new government made at the beginning of its mandate were starting to get refuted as "the first bomb, which was cast, was on the repair of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The State spent 43 million EUR for repair works. It turned out that the contract is for 13 million, and the State paid 4 million”.

In this regard, we are obliged to make the following clarifications:

The contract for design and execution of construction and building works /CBW/,  related to the reconstruction of the existing building of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, and the finishing works for the construction of the ministry’s new administrative building amounts up to 41 178 656 EUR (VAT included) and is currently approximately 30% executed. The amount of acknowledged expenses is 14 776 163 BGN (VAT included), from which 13 600 792 BGN (VAT included) are paid off. Payments were made as follows:
- In 2008 - 11 379 752 EUR (VAT included)
- In 2009 - 2 221 039 BGN (VAT included).
Inspectors found "hidden" financing in the form of supplies at the end of 2008, amounting to 4 114 794 EUR (VAT included), which, several months later, were deducted  from the types of work that were approved as acknowledged expenses in 2009. 
The contract was concluded on 10.09.2008, after the open public procedure under the Public Procurement Act (PPA), in which only one candidate was involved – “GBS-Sofia” JSC. The objectives of the contract include:
- Preparation of technical expertise 143 520 EUR (VAT included).
- Preparation of business investment projects and other activities related to design - 364 320 EUR (VAT included), including 297 666 BGN for the design of heating ventilation and air conditioning - 4314 man-hours are down (69 BGN each) (VAT included).
- Copyright control - 13 800 EUR (VAT included).
- For  implementation of CBW in bills  of quantities - 3 983 692 EUR (VAT included).
- For implementation of CBW in consolidated indexes - up to 29 897 155 EUR (VAT included).
- Unforeseen costs up to 20% - 6 776 169 BGN (VAT included).
The value of the implementation of the CBW in consolidated indexes is calculated on the base of the Total BUA (total built-up area) of 11,979 square meters.
It is obvious that the implementation of the contract in its CBW part is about 30%.

Evidence for this is also the following data:
- From those 324 doors planned in the bills of quantities, in the Architectural Part, only 14 are replaced, and they are all  luxurious ones. The other interior doors in the Ministry are in poor condition and should be replaced or repaired.
- From those specified in the bills of quantities on the project 1850 square meters faience tiling, only 122 square meters are implemented, or about 7%. The state of sanitary units in the Ministry is very bad. In the newly built part of the building there aren’t toilets at all, which is against all regulations of normal working conditions. Despite the fact that nearly half a million Euro is paid for the design, there is no solution to this problem in the projects.
- From those specified in the bills of quantities on the project 616 square meters of tiles, only 20 square meters are implemented etc. etc.

According to data on some indicative prices of some construction activities and services, published on the website of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber, it becomes clear that prices, which the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works settled and paid away, are twice higher than usual. For example, for the supply and laying of faience 110 BGN per square meter (VAT included) are declared as acknowledged expenses, while the standard rates are 50 EUR per square meter (VAT included) 634 EUR per square meter (VAT included) for the placing of granite steps compared with the standard 260 EUR per square meter (VAT included) delivery and laying of laminate flooring - 56 EUR per square meter compared with the standard $ 25 per square meter (VAT included) delivery and laying of granite - 495 EUR per square meter (VAT included), compared with the standard 200 EUR per square meter (VAT included) and others.
Contract work has been stopped because of the ongoing verification procedures on the part of the Prosecution. Officials who were found guilty in connection with this transaction were fired from Ministry.
Experts say that, if the building’s renovation works continue in accordance with the price indices, defined in this contract , for the formation of unit prices for different kinds of work (for example, 120% additional costs for labor, 45% additional costs for mechanization, etc.), then there is a strong likelihood that the foreseen sum of 41 178 656 EUR (VAT included) would be insufficient to repair the building.