Former Deputy Minister of Finance Georgi Klisurski from "We Continue the Change" (PP) announced that he was leaving the party. In a Facebook post, Klisurski wrote: "I am leaving the PP. Disappointed and disgusted." His colleague in the party, Stoil Mollov, also announced that he was submitting an application to terminate his membership in the PP, BGNES has reported. "As a sincere democrat and a person with right-wing beliefs, I believe that more resignations are necessary because besides Kiril Petkov there are at least three more who did a lot to make the members of the party and the entire democratic community become a laughing stock, not only in the eyes of the corrupt majority, but also in the eyes of the people close to us," Mollov wrote in Facebook. A day earlier, on June 25, Kiril Petkov resigned as PP co-chairman and as an MP.

Petkov motivated his decision by assuming political responsibility after the scandal with the district mayors of "Mladost" and "Lyulin" and two municipal councillors, who also left the PP with claims that they were being pressured to manipulate public procurement procedures and divert funds to the party treasury.

The Anti-Corruption Commission carried out searches in the Sofia Municipality. After the inspections, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office charged four people with taking bribes and participating in an organized criminal group.

This was followed by the arrest of Sofia's Deputy Mayor Nikola Barbutov responsible for "European Policies, International Activities and Tourism". He has been charged with participation in an organized criminal group and promising a bribe, BTA reported.

• Kiril Petkov resigns as co-chair of "We Continue the Change"

Editor: Darina Grigorova

Publication in English: Alexander Markov

Photo: BTA