In a series of articles, Iskra.bg has been warning for a long time about the dependencies and controversial decisions of former Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and his Deputy Anna Natova. They are related to public procurement as well as to various appointments that directly concern the development of this important sector for Bulgaria.
All of this is now confirmed by the public testimony of detained former Director of the Customs Agency, Petya Bankova. In her testimony, she mentioned Georgi Gvozdeykov’s name eight times and Anna Natova’s name once.
Bankova pointed out that she had scandalous information, according to which a criminal scheme was built under the leadership of Assen Vassilev. Thus, influence peddling was carried out by him and funds were diverted under a public procurement of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for the purchase of medical helicopters. All this happened during the time when Georgi Gvozdeykov was the head of the ministry.
The former director of the Customs Agency also explained how Gvozdeykov was chosen for the position of Minister of Transport and Communications. It turns out that he was appointed to the role so that Kiril Petkov, Assen Vassilev, and businessman Todor Ivandzhikov could exert influence through him. Ivandzhikov is revealed by Petya Bankova as the „grey cardinal“ of „We Continue the Change“ . He himself was thinking about becoming the head of the transport department, but he gave up this intention because this post would have prevented him from running his business.
Todor Ivandzhikov had very close ties with both Assen Vassilev and Kiril Petkov.
„Todor Ivandzhikov is one of the individuals who single-handedly financed the political rise of Assen Vassilev and Kiril Petkov. Todor Ivandzhikov personally told me that the goal was for him to become the Minister of Transport. However, he preferred to place a figure of his choosing instead of taking the position himself, as it would have taken away time he needed to run his business. His business is related to aircraft engineering,“, Petya Bankova revealed in her testimony.
She explained that Ivandzhikov was very close to lawyer Minko Minkov, with whom they even had a common business. Because of all this, Ivandzhikov managed to convince Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev Georgi Gvozdeykov to be put as Minister of Transport. But that’s not all. Anna Natova was put as his deputy because she was in close relations with the wife of lawyer Minko Minkov – Daniela Minkova.
„This was shared with me personally by Todor Ivandzhikov, boasting about it. The goal of this entire operation was for a person – in this case, Georgi Gvozdeikov – to be appointed as Minister of Transport, someone who would be a trusted ally of Assen Vassilev, Kiril Petkov, and Todor Ivandzhikov. By using their influence over him, they intended to pressure him to sign a contract for the purchase of the so-called ‘air ambulances’ from a specific company chosen by Todor Ivandzhikov. Ivandzhikov pointed out which company would be selected, as this is closely tied to his business and he has the necessary contacts in the aviation industry,“, Petya Bankova revealed.
But that’s not all. In addition to the purchase of air ambulances, Petya Bankova claims that there was also a criminal scheme related to the purchase of railway trains. The scandal is much bigger here because EU rules were ignored and circumvented, according to which a member state is not allowed to purchase railway trains from China. And yet, that is exactly what happened.
Petya Bankova described the following scheme, once again referring to a story told by Todor Ivandzhikov: „Iliyan Yonchev is the director of the HR department at the company „Hems.“ Next to the „Hems“ office, there is another office of a different company where two managers, Dancho and Georgi, work, and they manage the Varna and Burgas thermal power plants. Through a person named Misho/UN, Dancho and Georgi are in contact with Chinese manufacturers of all things related to rail transport. Daniela Minkova, who is also the head of the committee for selecting railway trains and a representative of the Ministry of Transport, in her capacity as legal advisor to „Hems,“ also had contacts with the Chinese. Daniela Minkova and Georgi Gvozdeykov organized a meeting, which was attended by, besides the two of them, also Asen Vassilev and Dancho, in order to negotiate the purchase of railway trains.“
In order to circumvent the European Union’s regulations, they devised a scheme where the railway trains would be purchased through other companies, but in reality, they would be sourced from China. For this purpose, Iliyan Yonchev and Dancho established contact with a woman from the Chinese embassy in Bulgaria named Cecilia. Daniela Minkova – the wife of lawyer Minko Minkov – was also supposed to attend the forum in China.
Ultimately, Iliyan Yonchev travelled to this forum in China in his capacity as an employee of Georgi Gvozdeykov. At the forum, railway trains were specifically being offered.
„I want to mention that I personally know from Todor Ivandzhikov that he discussed with Asen Vassilev what a big mistake it was to leave Georgi Gvozdeykov in the first caretaker government with Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, because this would prevent them from being able to use him when they returned to power,“, Petya Bankova revealed in her testimony.
