A crowd of supporters gave their backing to Valentin Dimitrov, who denies the charges, when he emerged from police headquarters in Dobrich, Bulgaria.
ADVERTISEMENTProtestors in a town near Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast say their mayor has been unfairly targeted in a criminal enquiry into misuse of EU funds.
Valentin Dimitrov, who is the mayor of General Toshevo in Dobrich province, was bailed after appearing in court on 9 August.
He had been arrested at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and accused of misusing €169,000 in EU subsidies connected to a project for increasing energy efficiency in social housing. The work was completed from 2017-2019 by a private contractor.
The EPPO says that according to the evidence, public officials involved in the project, including the mayor, presented untrue information regarding the implementation of the works, which had not been concluded by the established deadline.
Dimitrov has pleaded not guilty to the charges.