The Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC) has begun to repay significant financial obligations accumulated in previous years, while the Supervisory Board has completed its audit of the organization's financial condition. This was announced by the Secretary General of the BOC, Danail Dimov, in an interview for BGNES.
According to him, the draft report of the Supervisory Board is already ready, and the Executive Bureau, the delegates of the General Assembly, and subsequently the public, will be acquainted with it.
"The Supervisory Board has already completed its work on it. There are findings, some of them quite striking, for which we have no explanation," Dimov stated.
As one of the examples, he pointed to a trip to Bali by the former chairperson of the BOC, Stefka Kostadinova, and the former secretary general, Belcho Goranov. According to Dimov, the plane tickets for the two cost a total of 20,000 leva.
The Secretary General also commented on the remuneration Kostadinova received as chairperson of the organization. According to his interpretation of the Olympic Charter, elected positions in the Olympic movement system should not receive employment remuneration, although travel, hotel, and other expenses related to their activities may be covered.
One of the main problems for the current leadership was the financial condition of the BOC. According to Dimov, upon final calculation, the obligations amounted to approximately 350-360 thousand euros, and employees had not received salaries for five months.
For the period after the change of leadership, approximately 180,000 euros of these obligations have been paid, and the remaining part is in the process of repayment.
Among them is an obligation of 85,000 euros on a corporate credit card of the BOC, which, according to Dimov, was at the disposal of Stefka Kostadinova. He specifies that payments have been made with the card since 2022.
Dimov also cited a specific example of payments in a restaurant at Chernomorets campsite, raising the question of whether such expenses were related to the activities of the Olympic Committee. However, he explicitly emphasized that he could not claim whether there was misuse of funds.
A significant problem, according to the Secretary General, is also the high interest rate on the credit card. According to him, it is nearly 20%, while a potential overdraft would be at a significantly lower interest rate.
"We are now paying nearly 1600 euros per month on this credit card. One of our next goals is to settle this debt, because that is the salary of one employee," Dimov stated.
More details about the financial condition of the BOC are expected around the upcoming General Assembly of the organization, which will be held on September 29, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sofia. By then, the Executive Bureau should have reviewed the report of the Supervisory Board, and according to Dimov, the members of the BOC will receive full information about the organization's financial condition in recent years.