Audit Office Sends Four Conflict of Interest Cases to Anti-Corruption Commission.

Bulgaria's National Audit Office has referred four public officials to the Commission for Counteracting Corruption and the Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Assets (CPCIA) for inspections into their assets and income over suspected conflicts of interest.

The individuals are Andriyana Tatarova, recently dismissed as Executive Director of the National Palace of Culture – Congress Centre Sofia (NDK), Dinko Yanev, a member of the Management Board of the National Production Center state enterprise, Dr. Todor Todorov, Executive Director of the Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment in Montana, and Galin Kanev, Principal of the Mathematics and Science High School in Dobrich.

The National Audit Office requested the anti-corruption commission to determine whether the officials' declared income corresponds to their acquired assets under the Act on the Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property.

According to the findings, Andriyana Tatarova independently approved and signed a contract with a company represented by her son, granting the use of Hall No. 2 at the National Palace of Culture for the preparation, production, and filming of a performance.

At the time, Tatarova was a member of the company's Board of Directors and one of its beneficial owners through share ownership. She also served on the Board of Directors of the private company represented by her son and owned nearly 30% of its capital.

Following an investigation initiated after a complaint, the Commission for Counteracting Corruption concluded that Tatarova had been in a conflict of interest. Under Bulgarian law, a final decision establishing a conflict of interest constitutes grounds for dismissal from public office unless otherwise provided by the Constitution, the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank, or another special law.