A judgment by the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) has enabled Plovdiv-based businessman Georgi Gergov to get full control of the International Plovdiv Fair. The SAC voided a judgment of the administrative court of the Black Sea city of Varna, which was the only obstacle to the transfer of shares in the International Plovdiv Fair held by Varna Municipality to Gergov's Puldin Tourinvest AD company.
Currently Puldin Tourinvest holds a 50.3% stake in the International Plovdiv Fair and Varna Municipality owns a 29% stake. The other shareholders are the Economy Ministry with 20.63% and others with 0.01%.
If the deal with Varna Municipality is finalized, the businessman will control a 79.3% stake in the exhibition centre and will be able to make decisions single-handedly, which requires a three-quarter interest. Now the State still holds a blocking interest.
The deal is important for Gergov because it will give him full control over an attractive property in Plovdiv which could be built upon.
The SAC argued that back in April 2022, the administrative court of Varna did not have the right to reverse a decision of the Municipal Council of 2021 to use the shares as an in-kind contribution in Puldin Tourinvest, and the Regional Governor did not have the right to appeal against it before the administrative court.
The Regional Governor also put the deal on hold in December 2021. He was acting on instructions by then economy and industry minister Korneliya Ninova, who argued that the transfer would have been an act of clandestine privatization.
Further back, in 2017, the municipal councillors decided to return the shares in the Fair to the State but that decision was never implemented.
Established in 1892, the Plovdiv Fair is the largest one in Bulgaria.
/NZ/
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