Ex Football Star Turned Mayor of Sliven Banned from Leaving Bulgaria

Outgoing Sliven Mayor Yordan Lechkov has been banned from leaving the country by way of a measure of restraint, said Plamen Stefanov, District Prosecutor at the southeastern Bulgarian city.  

The ban dates back to October 17 but became public on Friday, Bulgarian daily 24 Hours reported.

On Sunday, Sliven will hold a runoff between Kolyo Milev, mayoral candidate of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Yordan Lechkov, the nominee of  center-right ruling party GERB.

At the October 23 presidential and local elections, Milev was backed by 28.55% of the voters, while Lechkov got the support of 26.06%.

"I am baffled by what is happening and how it is happening. Nobody told me about this, I just learned about it from a source other than the competent body. I have no idea on what charges this restriction is based," Lechkov stated.

"It is not a must to inform him. If he had made an attempt to leave the country, he would have realized. The measure has been taken in relation to a concrete trial and bears no connection to the elections," Stefanov explained.

In the meantime, rumors started circulating in Sliven that Lechkov was selling the Imperia hotel complex together with a mortgage for a massive loan and was getting ready to leave the city or even the country

Approached for comment by journalists, Lechkov adamantly denied the allegations.

On September 28, Sliven's Mayor and ex football star was handed a 3-year suspended prison sentence with five years of probation for breach of official duties.

Lechkov was also ordered to pay BGN 671 368.80 in damages to the Sliven municipality, together with the accumulated interests and the court expenses in the trial.

He was found guilty of allowing private companies to use municipal property for a period of around 2 years without holding a public procurement or without asking them to pay rent.

On September 14, the European Commission froze all EU funds for Sliven due to signals of corruption and misappropriation at the municipality.

Prosecutors have pressed a total of 9 charges against Lechkov, 3 of which have already reached court phase.

The first case to reach court on counts of fraud and influence trading ended in an acquittal for Lechkov handed by the court of first instance, the Stara Zagora District Court.

Yordan Lechkov, currently also a Vice President of the Bulgarian Football Federation, was a key member of the historically best Bulgarian national football team, who went on to grab the fourth place at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA.