Maria Ilieva: DECLARATION on Bay Riban and the Destruction of the Livelihood of Bulgarian Livestock Breeders (24.10.2025)

We present to you the full text of the declaration by the party "Velichie" regarding the case with the animals of Bay Riban from Velingrad:

Madam Chair, esteemed Members of Parliament, dear compatriots!

Bulgaria is experiencing not merely an economic but a moral crisis – a crisis of trust between the state and the people who feed this land.

The case of Bay Riban – Georgi Iliev from Velingrad Municipality, is the face of this crisis. An honest man, a farmer, and a Bulgarian livestock breeder was brought to his knees before institutions that were supposed to protect him. For nearly a year, the State has waged a heartless war against his labor and dignity with invalid orders, falsified protocols, unclear samples, and fear.

Corruption scheme and lawlessness

We witnessed a large-scale corruption scheme in the livestock sector: falsification of documents, manipulation of data, and theft of European funds. These actions took place with the assistance of high-ranking state officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Fund “Agriculture” (SFA), the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), and in collusion with heads of livestock associations.

The example of the invalid order for the culling of a herd in Velingrad until November 25, 2024, issued by the director of the BFSA, Svetozar Patarinski, is a symbol of this lawlessness.

Specific violations and arbitrariness:

• Samples taken by unlicensed persons.
• Tests conducted in a non-accredited laboratory.
• Lack of electronic signature.
• Sampling without protocol.
• Transport of samples in bags at temperatures above 40°.
• Complete lack of traceability.

Mass killing of animals

This is not an isolated case. You remember the data about the “emerging blood” in the Plovdiv region in August 2025, where over 9,000 sheep carcasses were dumped and left to rot in heat above 40°, in violation of all biosecurity rules.

The cases in the village of Tatarevo include over 400 sheep buried near a water source and a mineral spring, without protocol, without commission approval, and without coordination.

Violence and arbitrariness also exist in many other settlements

such as Manole, Trilistnik, Dabov Izvor, the village of Vasil Levski.

• Animals culled without visible symptoms, without quarantine regime, without a chance for treatment.
• Families claim: “The animals were healthy, without symptoms.”
• Selective culling carried out without protocol, often by signing blank sheets.
• Farmers subjected to threats by police who did not identify themselves and refused access to documents.

So far, over 10,000 animals have been killed. With the year’s end approaching and the availability of funds that can be absorbed for culling, this number is likely to continue to grow.

Phantom herds and financial damages

Discrepancies in the data on the number of animals – from 4,754 in January to 9,896 in March 2025 – reveal the existence of phantom herds, used to siphon subsidies. The damages exceed 3 billion BGN.

There are also suspicions of deliberate infection of animals

After in June teams were not allowed into farms in Karlovo Municipality and for three months no clinical infection appeared, now, under strange circumstances, a herd in the village of Gorni Domlyan became infected and was culled, and a few weeks later the same fate befell a neighboring farm. In mid-October, infected sheep appeared in the village of Verdare, with the case connected to the disappearance of the shepherd while the farmer was on holiday.

Farmers repeatedly tell of cars patrolling villages and observing the environment, as well as drones flying in close proximity to the farms.

The symbol of destruction

A year later, after all visits and PR stunts, Bay Riban’s animals are healthy, but the state continues to remain silent and does not rule on his case. The animals multiply, lambs are born. The space cannot accommodate them all, there is no food, and the produce cannot be marketed due to the ban.

What happened to Bay Riban is a symbol of the destruction of the system, where paper replaces truth, and a bureaucratic signature carries more weight than human life.

His herd, healthy, tested, with no proven infection, has been turned into a victim of political interest and administrative arbitrariness. Instead of being protected, Bay Riban has been subjected to pressure, threats, and humiliation. Instead of help, we receive silence. Instead of justice – fear.

Our duty

I don’t know about you, but I, as a Member of Parliament from this tribune, want to apologize to these people for everything that was inflicted upon them – for their helplessness to obtain justice and care for themselves and their families.

They are here now, among us. They asked to come and see you, and for you to see them. Look into their calloused hands, into the tormented gaze, yet a gaze with dignity, because these people are the last guardians of the Bulgarian land, of the village, of livelihood, of honest labor. When we hurt them, we destroy ourselves.

Bay Riban’s business must be protected. His life and work must be respected.

The State is obliged to show care – not demonstrative, but human – to him, to his family, and to all Bulgarian livestock breeders who today live in fear of their own institutions.

Let what happened to Bay Riban be the last such case in Bulgaria

Let no Bulgarian farmer ever again fear that tomorrow he will lose everything – not because of disease, but because of corruption, arrogance, and heartlessness.

Thank you, Bay Riban, for existing – you and your sons – and for giving an example of a life filled with labor and dignity.

Bulgaria has no future without its livestock breeders. And we, the Members of Parliament, will have no morality if we do not protect them.

Let us restore justice, let us restore humanity, let us return Bulgaria to the people who feed it.

Thank you.

~ Maria Ilieva, party "Velichie"