ISSUE No. 12/1999

Four Bulgarian Mayors On The Issue Of Corruption Prevention

We approached the mayors of several Bulgarian municipalities with the question: "What measures to eliminate and restrict corruption do you plan to introduce in your municipality in the beginning of your term?"

Following are the answers we received:

Georgi Ivanov, Mayor of Haskovo Municipality:

We are all aware that the clear and laconic phrase "combating corruption" implies a large-scale task that is difficult to define or measure. It is no accident that corruption is considered to be one of the global challenges of today. In Bulgaria, corruption and crime are two major obstacles to the establishment of democratic values and our European integration, to the introduction of favorable conditions for foreign investments and economic growth. We must wage the struggle against corruption on many fronts; on the local level, that struggle has specific mechanisms and forms of impact aiming at changing attitudes, and creating social intolerance towards corruption. We also need to educate people in civil rights, and to raise the image of local government authorities, i. e. to cultivate credibility in these institutions.

I believe that a complete in-depth study that takes into consideration all developments needs to be done, and on the basis of it we could expect constructive proposals towards improving the anti-corruption environment on the local level.

Restricting and preventing corruption among municipal administration and among elected officers are an essential element of the local self-government reform. They are key elements of the transition to a civil society.

The anti-corruption environment in the Municipality of Haskovo will be improved by introducing effective organization of the administration, and by creating better work conditions. A cash department will soon be opened, which will be fully equipped and maintained by Bulbank. It will deal with all payments, which are currently collected by inspectors of the Municipal Revenue Department, including the fees for child care institutions, which are presently collected on the spot. Thus, all non-regulated contacts between citizens and municipal employees will cease, and corruption pressures against citizens will be restricted.

All parking lots on the territory of the municipality will be declared as a "blue zone", i. e. parking will be possible with a ticket that can be purchased from bookstalls. The system will eliminate any possibility for misappropriation by the staff who currently "collect" parking fees with or without receipts.

In the beginning of 2000, the municipality will review all licenses and permits for various activities. These documents will be reconsidered and reissued. We believe in that way we can monitor and stop issuing licenses to entities, which do not meet the requirements of the law. We shall put an end to the practice of calculating smaller than the truly used commercial areas, or of registering business activities that are different from the actual ones. We plan to eliminate the so-called artificial barriers to the setting-up of entities, which are more competitive than others. We plan to make an inventory and carry out an audit of municipal housing facilities in order to verify compliance with the law, concerning the correct order of housing sells and leasing in the past two years. Civil servants who have violated the respective regulations shall be held responsible in accordance with the law.

Last but not least, I want to emphasize that the lack of transparency and of openness of public services is a major corruption-generating factor. In the conditions of institutional blackout, citizens can easily be blackmailed into paying for services that are free, or humiliated by corrupt civil servants. Therefore, our principal and immediate objective in the framework of the fight against corruption on the local level will be to increase transparency of public services, and to create prerequisites for civil control of public institutions. In this respect, the municipality's Citizen Information Center will be our powerful ally. The center's activities will be improved, and it will become am effective provider of information and services to the public. The center will also be used as a tool for increasing transparency in the work of the municipality, and for reducing corruption pressures.

I believe that by mobilizing the existing local self-government units in the struggle against corruption, our efforts will improve the image of the local authorities, and we shall achieve transparency, and increase citizens participation.

Dr. Ivan Tsenov, Mayor of Vidin Municipality:

The preventive measures in the fight against corruption, which we, at the Municipality of Vidin, have already adopted, include:

competitive recruitment of municipal administrative staff;

fixed-term labor contracts for municipal employees.

We envisage to support the establishment of a reception where citizens will be able to come and share information they have about corruption, as well as an Information Centre.

Assen Gagauzov, Mayor of Sliven Municipality:

The issue of corruption is an important issue for the Municipality of Sliven, although it is not as acute.

We consider that the struggle to eliminate and restrict corruption is not, nor can be, a single campaign. It is an important element of the process of management of the Municipality of Sliven, and is considered in all our actions. Here is a summary of some of the principle measures we adopted:

Optimizing the structure of the municipal administration - We wish to achieve the best possible blending of proficiency and efficient organization, with clear criteria and well-defined responsibilities of the various departments and job positions. We pay special attention to the units, which deal with licensing, or exercise control functions, or are in charge of the management and privatization of municipal property, public procurement, etc.

Establishing a Center for Information and Services to Citizens - The center will help to improve the quality and efficiency of the services that the municipality provides to citizens. It will facilitate better access of citizens to services, and will stimulate civil initiative. When the services are clearly regulated, the opportunities for corruption will considerably decrease.

Transparency and openness in the activities of the municipal administration - The Municipality of Sliven will maintain and expand the existing good relations with representatives of the mass media and NGOs. Together with some traditional ways like weekly briefings, press conferences, meetings and interviews, by order of the mayor, all reporters are entitled to priority access to information from all municipal departments, and to receiving the entire documentation for the city council meetings in advance. The citizens receive timely information about council decisions and mayor s orders from a special window-case and from the Sliven News daily, as well as from the local radio and TV stations.

Improving the system of control and increasing its effectiveness -The public receives timely and prompt information about the results of the implementation of council decisions, mayor's orders and other legislative documents, the result of inquiries made by citizens request, follow-up to petitions, complaints, etc.

We are deeply convinced that the fight against corruption is a long-term complex effort, which requires the involvement of the entire community.

Dimitar Kalchev, Mayor of Rousse Municipality:

With regard to the struggle against corruption our municipality will focus on:

reducing the number of licenses issued by the municipality;

establishing a Committee composed of council members and representatives of all political groups, which will ensure publicity of all privatization contracts and deal;

setting-up a Public Committee with wide participation to deal with complaints and petitions filed by citizens, since at present complaints often go to civil servants, who are the reason for public discontent.