The Belgian company „D-12 Construct“ was founded and registered by two Bulgarians. According to its activity, it deals mainly with waterproofing, roofs and generates a good income. Until recently, Georgi Georgiev, a native of Yambol, was its employee in Belgium. However, he told a journalist of Iskra.bg that he was exploited, his employers forced their employees to pay company taxes and made them deceive the police.
It all started after Georgi received from his friend the phone number of Dinko Dinev – one of the owners of D-12 Construct, in connection with his search for a new job. During this time he was in Cologne, where he was engaged in construction. During a telephone conversation with his new employers, the man received the promise that he would receive a very good remuneration– 14.72 euros per hour and would be satisfied with the working conditions. They subsequently gave him the right to sign an employment contract, which consisted of 2 pages of Dutch text. There was no copy with a translation into Bulgarian.
„I do not understand Dutch. The working hours are described. It was orally explained to me that my assignment was in the field of waterproofing. They promised me that I would be very pleased and that I would deal with waterproofing.“Georgiev explained and added:
„They took me from Cologne, which is 200 km from Ghent – the headquarters where they are. I was accommodated in a house in the village of Wielsbeke. Initially, their words were that the minimum costs – electricity and water, must be paid, but at one point it turned out that they require everything else. They were constantly writing me notes by hand and I was required to pay them by hand because the company registered everything in their name as an expense. Everything we pay them cash on hand was not described and therefore the state harmed me because it taxed me with very high taxes.“
Georgi emphasized that the arrangement was different – the employers to cover all his costs – clothes, travel, food, in the form of coupons and that he has provided accommodation. He admits that his transportation costs have been paid – 5 cents per kilometer.
„Everything else I paid for myself. This is every month – Dinko Dinkov writes it, comes to the house and I pay him. Then I run out of money because my state takes it in the form of taxes.“
The employee paid rent, electricity bills, water bills and even fire insurance. He emphasized that the house in question was registered in the name of the company and that the things the workers paid were described as company expenses. According to him, in this way his bosses avoided the mandatory taxes by law.
Some time ago, former workers reported the abuse to the police, Georgiev claims. On this occasion, he said that he was forced to lie to the police officers and not to tell them that he paid for the accommodation and for the consumables, which are registered in the name of the company.
„Everyone who comes and registers at this address then goes through a police check with an interpreter. They came to assess the conditions when it was found that this house was not habitable – where we were accommodated as workers.“
Initially, Georgi did what he was hired to do. Shortly afterwards, however, they began to force him to carry and scatter stones to make decorations.
„I do not know what is described in my contract, but we did not have an agreement to carry stones. They rent sites where they additionally say that they want to put decoration on the roofs and terraces. On several occasions, carrying my stones made my diaphragm tighten and I couldn’t catch my breath.
However, the Bulgarian was most burdened by the taxes in question, which he had to pay instead of his employers, and the fact that they were not covered.
„We have entered into conflicting relations several times because of these damages, because the state also imposes taxes on me and if I do not pay them, it can convict me. All this I have paid for it, as well as other colleagues, but it is not described by the company. During that time I did not have a Belgian ID card and therefore I did not have any rights and I could not go anywhere. They knew it and blackmailed me that way. I was told – if you don’t want to pay – get out and leave the accommodation. If I do not obey their demands, they leave me on the road because I have no rights. I told them categorically that I refused to scatter decoration like stones because it didn’t work for me. It is to make waterproofing, not to drag stones. And they told me I didn’t like leaving.”
The wronged worker decided to contact the Bulgarian embassy in Belgium. He said he did not find understanding there: „During a phone call, they gave me other numbers to contact. From there, answering machines came on. I told them most normally that I am a Bulgarian citizen and I want to be assisted and helped, because these people are committing a crime not only against me, but also against the state – by evading taxes that come from us workers. Our services in Europe do not fulfil their obligations. Finally, they contacted me and gave me a number with a representative at the consulate. She told me that she would ask me for money for the consultations. I do not consider this to be normal. She told me that her rate was about 30 euros for half an hour.“
Now Georgi is in Bulgaria, and at the moment when he returned he went for a medical examination and it was established that he had a hernia. Even while he was in Belgium, his hair began to drip. There he visited a doctor who prescribed him medication and explained that the problem was related to stress. The diagnosis was confirmed during a visit to a Bulgarian doctor.
The man is adamant that he wants to contact the Belgian authorities, because he is not the first and does not think that he will be the last to be harmed by the company in question. Iskra.bg is about to make an inquiry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the case.
From Iskra.bg we remain available to all affected parties to express their positions.
The publication was created with the assistance of the Organization for the Protection of Bulgarian Citizens.
