{"id":83213,"date":"2021-12-09T01:50:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T22:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=83213"},"modified":"2021-12-20T14:46:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T11:46:11","slug":"eurohold-bulgaria-sues-bivol-for-the-record-sum-of-e05-mln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/eurohold-bulgaria-sues-bivol-for-the-record-sum-of-e05-mln.html","title":{"rendered":"Eurohold Bulgaria sues Bivol for the record sum of \u20ac0,5 mln."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201dA large Bulgarian company is suing investigative website Bivol for the record-high amount of 1 million BGN.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is what attorney Alexander Kashumov announced at an event organized by the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) and the European Parliament Liaison Office in Sofia. The topic of the discussion was the undue use of judicial actions against journalists and activists. Kashumov, who is recognized as one of the leading experts in civil and EU law, heads the legal team of the Access to Information Programme and is Bivol’s legal counsel. Bivol’s director Assen Yordanov was served with a court summons of 8 December 2021 and the notice makes it clear that Eurohold is the plaintiff in the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attorney Alexander Kashumov took part in the discussion’s second panel, dedicated to the experience of Bulgarian media and NGOs in dealing with lawsuits filed against them.<\/p>\n

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Attorney Alexander Kashumov<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c<\/em>A little while ago we heard about an example from Portugal, where a media outlet was sued for half a million Euro. And now this is already happening in Bulgaria too \u2013 a company advertising itself as the biggest in Bulgaria, listed on the stock exchange, etc., and which is now also an investor in the energy sector, has filed a lawsuit against investigative website Bivol and has estimated its economic interests to be worth 1 million Bulgarian levs.<\/em>\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

According to Bivol’s attorney, the company has cited a Bivol article as grounds for their claim.<\/p>\n

\u201eThe claim has been submitted as a partial case on the basis of a critical publication. The company states that they actually incurred losses and foregone benefits as a result of Bivol’s investigation, Alexander Kashumov<\/strong> explained.<\/p>\n

\u201eUnfortunately lawsuits of this type are not an exception and they have become more and more frequent in Bulgaria.<\/em>\u201c<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, the director of the investigative website Bivol was served with a court summons on Wednesday, 8 December 2921, which makes it clear that the claim was made on behalf of the insurance company Eurohold Bulgaria (registered at Christopher Columb Blvd 43 in Sofia).<\/p>\n

It is a scandal that news of the claim was received on the very day when AEJ Bulgaria and the European Parliament Liaison Office in Sofia were holding an event dedicated to the so-called SLAPP<\/strong> cases (strategic lawsuit against public participation<\/strong>). In addition to attorney Alexander Kashumov<\/strong>, other participants included legal expert Simona Veleva<\/strong>, who specializes in constitutional and media law, journalist Rossen Bossev<\/strong> (AEJ-Bulgaria board member), and attorney Regina Stoilova<\/strong>.<\/p>\n