{"id":33970,"date":"2017-06-01T14:33:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T14:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/?p=33970"},"modified":"2017-06-04T09:04:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T09:04:58","slug":"name-of-bulgarian-eu-commissioner-hopeful-pops-up-in-list-of-trusted-people-with-cheap-municipal-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/name-of-bulgarian-eu-commissioner-hopeful-pops-up-in-list-of-trusted-people-with-cheap-municipal-housing.html","title":{"rendered":"Name of Bulgarian EU Commissioner-Hopeful Pops up in List of “Trusted People” with Cheap Municipal Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

“That’s all I have asked as help, nothing more,” said in an interview for TEMA<\/em> (Theme) magazine Bulgaria\u2019s future European Commissioner, Maria Gabriel, in connection with revelations that in 2010 she has been renting a cheap home, managed by a company owned by the Sofia Municipality. And she further explains: “I did not want to take advantage of a position or take an apartment or anything. On the contrary, I just needed room to store some of my stuff.”<\/p>\n

Nearly two weeks ago, A-specto<\/em> magazine revealed<\/a> that Gabriel’s rent was only BGN 400 a month for an apartment of 128 square meters in a luxury building in the Sofia upscale Lozenets district. The landlord was the municipal company Zavodproekt. Maria Gabriel, herself, confirmed these facts and indicated that she had terminated the contract for the cheap housing in May 2013.<\/p>\n

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GN 400 per month for 128 square meters in this luxury building in Lozenets are not an unbearable rent for a MEP.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, a check by Bivol further revealed that the “help” requested by Gabriel, probably from the Sofia Municipality, was not even mentioned in her declaration<\/a> as a MEP<\/strong>. Why she missed doing it remains unclear. Doubts, raised by A-specto<\/em> that Gabriel continued to use the housing in one form or another despite the formal termination of the contract also remain uncontested.<\/p>\n

Bivol sent several questions to the press office of Gabriel\u2019s ruling, center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and to the future EU Commissioner, herself, for further clarifications on these gray areas in the history of assistance granted to her as MEP. All queries remained unanswered. The press office of the European Commission and the European Parliament so far remain silent as well.<\/p>\n

Zavodproekt – secret municipal housing with chronic loss<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The subject of Gabriel’s cheap home was put on the table as early as 2014 in a question to Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova by the municipal councilor from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Nikolay Belalov. In this question, he explicitly asked for information about municipal housing granted to Maria Gabriel. Fandakova’s answer stated that Sofia Municipality did not have municipal housing, did not manage such housing and had not provided municipal housing to Ms. Maria Gabriel.<\/p>\n