Bulgarian Minister's Husband Enjoys Public Procurement Contract

Krasimir Atanasov, the husband of Bulgarian Health Minister Desislava Atanasova from the ruling center-right party GERB, has won a BGN 1 M public procurement contract, according to a press report.

Atanasov, 42, recently got a BGN 1 M contract with the Bulgarian government for the construction of two foster care homes in two quarters in the northwestern city of Vratsa by his firm, Dekra Stroy, the Presa daily reported Tuesday.

The report further says that the Health Minister's husband, who is a native of the Danube city of Ruse, registered a Sofia office of his firm in September 2012 with garbage collection and garbage disposal as its designated business activity.

The financial results of Dekra Stroy EOOD indicate that the firm's revenues grew with each that Atanasov's wife was part of the GERB government, the BGNES news agency reports. Thus, in 2008, Dekra Stroy's revenues amounted to BGN 433 000, in 2009 – to BGN 719 000, and in 2011 – to more than BGN 1 M.

"Does this matter?" Krasimir Atanasov is quoted as responding when asked if his wife helped him win the tenders for the construction of the two buildings in Vratsa worth BGN 1 M.

He added he won the tenders because his was the only firm that bade in them, further explaining his fast success with the quality of his firm's construction work.

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