Every third magistrate in Bulgaria owns more than one house, 38% have more than one apartment, and about 3.6% have five or more dwellings. The statistics also include the properties of spouses and other related parties, according to a new analysis by the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives titled "The properties and cars of magistrates: what public data tells us". The data covers the declarations of judges, prosecutors, and investigators for the period 2017–2024.
A total of 4,162 magistrates have declared over 20,000 real estate properties and more than 7,000 motor vehicles. According to the authors of the study, the dynamics in recent years clearly show a steady increase in real estate assets and "the curve needs no comment".
A simple calculation shows that the number of magistrates with five or more officially declared apartments is about 150 people. With an average estimated price of 178,649 euros per apartment and an average area of about 86 sq. m, the value of the declared dwellings reaches approximately 1.062 billion euros "locked" in apartments, the experts calculate.
Another approximately 396 million euros are concentrated in houses and other similar real estate. Thus, the total value of the real estate wealth of magistrates exceeds 1.6 billion euros, according to the study, carried out by the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives in partnership with Global Metrics and BIRD.
By acquisition structure, over 42% of the properties were inherited, 40% were the result of purchase and sale, and just over 10% represent gifts. Regarding the declared origin of funds for purchase, 63% of the properties were bought with personal funds, just over 40% with loans, and over 7% again through gifts.
The average estimated value of the car driven by a Bulgarian magistrate as of 2024 is 28,464 BGN. The vehicles are mainly of "mid-range" brands, with the most preferred manufacturer being "Toyota", followed by "Volkswagen". For cars received as gifts, the average price is significantly lower – about 3,770 BGN.
During the presentation of the analysis, the director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder, emphasized that working with magistrates' declarations is extremely difficult. According to her, the data published by the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council – the body that by law monitors the property status of magistrates – is "poorly organized, poorly uploaded, and poorly administered". This, according to her, seriously limits the opportunities for public control and systemic analysis.