Information newsletter
Issue 03(27), March 2006

News
Compiled by Diana Bancheva, AIP

On February 27, 2006, the Sofia City Court started proceedings initiated by the Civil Association Bankia against the refusal of the mayor of Bankia municipality to provide information
The civil association demanded the amount of money allocated from the municipality budget for landscaping, the contract with the landscaping company, and the reports for the accomplishment of the landscaping activities. The mayor expressed his suspicion at the good intentions of the association and his concerns about the use of the requested information, which had commerical character. According to the legal team of AIP, the citizens' right to know how the public money are allocated overrides the private interest of the companies, which receive money from public institutions.

Citizens have the right to know who has financed the reform in the court system and what is the amount of money allocated
This is the decision of the Sofia City Court concerning the case of the citizen Ivaylo Hlebarov, who is challenging the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to disclose the names of the donors and the projects that support the court system reform in Bulgaria. The information was initially refused by the former Sax-Coburghotski's cabinet, according to which the international donors were third parties and they had not given their consent for the information to be disclosed. Meanwhile, the team of AIP found all the information about the donors, the projects, and the amounts given for the reform at the Internet site of the Supreme Administrative Council

Corruption at the Ministry of Agriculture?
During the first week of March, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) scheduled the case of the Federation of Environment Conservation NGOs Green Balkans against a refusal of the Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Nichat Kabil. The federation demanded information about the exchange of lands from the forests fund. According to data that the federation has received, a corruption scheme is used for the exchange of forests at the seaside and close to the resorts with forests in unattractive regions in Bulgaria. After this procedure, the land at the seaside is taken out of the forests fund and hotels are being constructed. The grounds in the Minister's refusal are that a third party interests are affected and their consent for the disclosure of the information are lacking. The lawfulness of the refusal will be judged by a three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court.