Question for written answer E-007309/2012 to the Commission Rule 117 Nikos Chrysogelos (Verts/ALE) Subject: The historic Sea Garden, Varna, Bulgaria, is being sold off and destroyed The Sea Garden is Varna’s largest, oldest and best-known public park, and the largest landscaped park in the Balkans. Located along the city’s coast on the Black Sea, it is a major tourist attraction and a national monument of landscape architecture1. Recently there have been massive civil protests by nearly 2 000 citizens against the selling off of the Sea Garden under a controversial business plan (Alley One project) by companies related to the TIM consortium, which involve the demolition of the vast park’s seaside promenade to erect a number of business buildings2. The protests concern parts of the garden, including beaches, which have been sold off illegally, according to the citizens, as well as proposed building on the land and the part of the garden known as the Saltanat area. This civil dispute dates back to 2009, when six NGOs started to question and challenge the decisions at administrative level, proposed amendments to the development of the new overall city plan, and alerted the prosecution service and filed a report with the Commission concerning illegal state aid3. The prices paid for the land are believed to be at least ten times lower than the actual market price. These estimates are probably incorrect, given the deliberate withholding of information by the District Administration of Varna. The prosecutors did not provide any information during their inspections, either on the examination of the expert assessments or indeed on whether anything at all has been checked, so that the NGOs were unable to provide the information requested by the Commission on this issue. All this suggests that the Bulgarian state is unwilling or unable to deal with this case, which continues to provoke protests and lawsuits in the country for the third year in succession. 1. Is the Commission monitoring this case, and what has been done about it? Does the Commission regard the information submitted to it by the District Administration of Varna as reliable? 2. Does the Commission agree that this is a case of illegal state aid? 3. What will the Commission do, given that it is obvious that no proper action is being taken by the Bulgarian authorities? 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Garden_%28Varna%29 2 http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=138452 and http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=139203 3 Corresponding with a notification to the European Commission, DG Competition, State Aid Registry, Reg index and date: CP402/2009 - Holding Varna A/26432 of 15.12.2009 relating to the Sea Garden, Varna, Bulgaria. 909941.EN PE 494.135.