Following the public interest raised by the press conference held today by Mayor of Varna (Bulgaria), Mr Ivan Portnih, the EPPO would like to emphasise that it does not comment on statements made by political representatives in relation to our investigations.
The EPPO confirms that it opened an investigation into a construction project in Varna in 2021, based on an initial report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Whenever we can say something about any of our investigations, we will do so proactively.
Within the EPPO, the Permanent Chambers are a key element in guaranteeing the independence of all investigations. They monitor the actions taken throughout the investigation and decide on all the important steps, including whether to prosecute, dismiss or apply a simplified procedure. Concretely, this means that three European Prosecutors from a different Member State assess and validate any proposal by a European Delegated Prosecutor to take a decision in a given case.