Sungurlare mayor Dimitar Gavazov and Belitsa mayor Radoslav Revanski will leave custody and stay under house arrest, the Appeals Court in Burgas ruled on Thursday, 29 October. The court overturned a Regional Court ruling of 22 October that had ordered the harshest measure, detention in custody.
Officers of the anti-organised crime directorate (GDBOP) detained the two men in special operations. They appealed against the custody order and asked for a milder measure. The case is being heard today from 14:00 in courtroom No. 2.
The previous development: Residents of Sungurlare and Belitsa rally outside court for arrested mayors
Prosecutors charge them with joining a criminal conspiracy to trade in influence in public procurement, under Article 321, paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code. Three people are charged in the case. The third is Hristo Shirokov, regional chair of "DPS – New Beginning" in Burgas. He is already under house arrest in another case, over crimes at the Burgas water utility.
Revanski is deputy chair of the National Association of Municipalities (NSORB) and of DPS.
Prosecutors say the conspiracy operated in Sungurlare municipality from the start of 2024 to 20 October 2026. The investigation covers public contracts worth about €7m for building streets and repairing public buildings. Prosecutor Miroslav Iliev, who oversees the case, described the roles. Shirokov found the firms, Revanski helped secure funding, and Gavazov influenced the municipal committee that picks the contractor.
"Between 25% and 35% of the value of the public contract had to be paid by the person or firm that won it," Iliev said. He said contracts in Belitsa municipality are not part of this case. A witness in the case is Mariyan Tsonev, a former mayor of Gurkovo.
Appeals prosecutor Krasimira Kateliyeva defended the custody order. She called the Regional Court's ruling correct and lawful, and said the crimes are serious and deliberate. She said there is evidence to support a reasonable suspicion that the two men rigged contracts in favour of specific contractors.
Kateliyeva also said Gavazov could influence witnesses or hide evidence. She said some witnesses had received threats from the Sungurlare mayor, and many others fear Revanski.
Revanski told the court he is not a criminal and is the victim of a political case. "I feel like a 'political dissident' under a dictatorial regime," he said. The Belitsa mayor said Rumen Radev and a minister, whom he called by the nickname "Exact with the Money", had put more than 1,000 people to work on his arrest.
He said a senior member of Radev's caretaker cabinets told him he was barely holding Ivan Demerdzhiev back from arresting him. The same person told him the main task before the elections was to take down satirical pages that mock the government. Revanski also said he has not seen the witness Tsonev in 4 years.
Gavazov denied that he, Tsonev and Revanski ever met, or that he attended a meeting with Shirokov to share out contracts and firms. He said he never pressed staff and wanted everyone to work for the good of the municipality.
Revanski's defence says there is no evidence of a crime, and the case file lacks dates, places and details of the talks with Shirokov. The claim that the Belitsa mayor approved contracts for DPS mayors rests on one secret witness and four other people. The lawyers say the evidence does not back it up.
Three other people questioned did not hear Revanski influence contracts, the defence said, and another witness called him a "treasurer". The lawyers say the charge was brought in haste, and they disputed that the mayor might go into hiding.
The defence said that an hour before the first hearing, the head of Burgas prison told Belitsa municipality that Revanski would vote from custody in the first round of the presidential election. Both lawyers also doubted the impartiality of the Regional Court panel. Gavazov's defence challenged the actions of the investigators, and his sister said the charges were made up to keep the mayors in custody.
Petar Mushiev, chief expert for "Operational Programmes and Projects" in Sungurlare municipality, said there were no violations in carrying out the contracts and all the work paid for was done.
DPS will refer to prosecutors claims that Nikolay Shushkov, head of the Customs Agency, pressed Revanski to switch to "Progressive Bulgaria" in return for political protection. The party wants prosecutors to check whether this is linked to his arrest.
After the Regional Court's decision, supporters from Belitsa and Sungurlare stood outside the courthouse until late in the evening and chanted "Mitko! Radi!". Police were out in force, and a cordon blocked the rear entrance, where the detainees were expected to be led out. Before that hearing, Revanski warned against toying with political peace, saying they were playing with fire. On leaving, he said the truth would come out.
Revanski's supporters from Belitsa said people from their ethnic group will not vote in the coming presidential election.
A financial audit and expert reports are due in the case. They should show what sums were actually paid and whether the municipal budget was harmed.