With a claim filed with the signature of Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Miroslav Naydenov against the royal heirs of former Kings Ferdinand I and Boris III, a suit for recognition of the state’s property rights over all lands and forests, recovered to the royal heirs from the land commission in Samokov, has been brought. From the subject of the claim only property № 65231.919.33, with an area of 5.121 hectares within the area of activity of Borovets State Forestry has been excluded. The property in question has a change in the use and the state can not be represented in court by the Minister of Agriculture and Food for this case. Criminal proceedings № 2550/04.11.2009 according to the list of the Sofia District Court have been initiated under the filed claim.
All necessary actions to protect the state’s interest have been taken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, including the involvement of lawyers, due to the factual and legal complexity of the case. Lawyers from the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and by the Executive Forestry Agency are also familiar with the matter in details and provided promptly the necessary assistance to lawyers for the effective implementation of legal representation. Assertions to the contrary are unfounded.
The period pointed out in the publication of "24 Hours" newspaper does not expire on April 10 and expires on April 11 - the next working day under the rules for counting of periods pursuant to the Civil Procedure Code. Lawyers involved in preparing the defense have informed the ministry for the expiring deadline, the actions taken up to date and have motivated the need for extending of deadline to provide evidence for the case due to reasons of objective nature.
Timely Minister of Agriculture and Food, in a reasoned request to the Sofia District Court has requested an extension of the deadline. On April 8 the application was lodged in court. This was necessary because in the given response to the claim, part of the defendants of the case raised an objection on the individualization of case properties in the claim, inaccuracies and inconsistencies are identified in the part of the evidence secured in official documents issued by the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency and the relevant tax office. As a result of division of property made after the restitution, at the present their number is 67.