INFORMATION ON THE PROCEDURE AND CONDITIONS FOR SUBMITTING SIGNALS OF VIOLATIONS

pursuant to Art. 12, para. 4 of the Whistleblower Protection Act or

publicly disclosing information about violations

Mirad Ltd. publishes this Information on the terms and conditions for reporting violations on the basis of Art. 12, para. 4 of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers or Publicly Disclosing Information on Violations, hereinafter referred to as the Law, which defines the terms and conditions for ensuring the protection of persons in the company who file reports or publicly disclose information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or of acts of the European Union, which became known to them during or on the occasion of the performance of their work or official duties or in another work context.

Persons granted protection

The law provides for protection to be provided to all whistleblowers from the moment the report is filed or information about a violation is made public.

A reporting person within the meaning of this law is a natural person who files a report or publicly discloses information about a violation that has become known in his/her capacity as:

A worker, employee, civil servant or other person who performs wage labor, regardless of the nature of the work, the method of payment and the source of funding;
A person who works without an employment relationship and/or exercises a free profession and/or craft activity;
Volunteer or intern;
Partner, shareholder, sole owner of the capital, member of the management or control body of a commercial company, member of the audit committee of an enterprise;
A person who works for a natural or legal person, its subcontractors or suppliers;
A job applicant who participated in a competition or other form of selection for employment and in this capacity received information about a violation;
A worker or employee, when the information was obtained within the framework of an employment or service relationship that was terminated at the time of the filing of the report or of the public disclosure.

Also, according to the Law, protection is provided to the following categories of persons:

Any other whistleblower who reports a violation that became known to him in a work context;
Persons who assist the whistleblower in the whistleblowing process;
Individuals who are related to the whistleblower and who may be subject to retaliatory retaliation because of the whistleblower;
Legal entities in which the whistleblower owns an equity interest, works for, or is otherwise associated with in a work context.

The law prohibits any form of retaliatory actions against persons using protection – whistleblowers and others – having the character of repression and putting them in a disadvantageous position, including threats or attempts of such actions.

Applicability

The law applies to reports of violations in the following areas:

Violations of Bulgarian legislation or EU acts in the field of:
Procurement;
Financial services, products and markets and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing;
Product safety and compliance;
Transport safety;
Environmental protection;
Radiation protection and nuclear safety;
Food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare;
Public Health;
Consumer Protection;
protection of privacy and personal data;
Security of networks and information systems.
Violations that affect the financial interests of the European Union within the meaning of Art. 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Violations of the rules of the internal market within the meaning of Art. 26, paragraph 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, including the rules of the European Union and Bulgarian legislation on competition and state aid.
Violations related to cross-border tax schemes, the purpose of which is to obtain a tax advantage that is contrary to the object or purpose of the applicable law in the field of corporate taxation.
Committed crime of a general nature, about which a person learned in connection with the performance of his work or in the performance of his official duties.
Signals or public disclosure of information about violations of Bulgarian legislation in the field of:
The rules for payment of due public state and municipal receivables;
Labor legislation;
Legislation related to the performance of public service.

Reporting channels

Signals are prioritized through the internal signaling channel as per the information in the sections below.

In the case of a reasonable assumption that there is a risk for the reporting person, the report can be submitted to the national body for external reporting of reports – the Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (CPDP). You can find information about the order and method of reporting in connection with the Act on the website

CPDP website: https://www.cpdp.bg.

Reporting through the internal channel of Mirad Ltd

A report may be filed in person or through a proxy with an express written power of attorney

in one of the following ways:

By email: whistleblow@splf.eu;
At the following address: gmanager@vitoshaparkhotel.com to the attention of: “Responsible person ZZLPSPOIN”. Mark the letter as “Confidential”;
By phone: +359 2 816 8778
In a personal meeting with the responsible person, after agreeing on the specified contact phone number.

The report should contain the whistleblower’s details, which will not be shared with others except for verification purposes. A written report is signed personally by the person making the report and submitted by filling in a form modeled after the Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (available for download here).

A report may also be submitted in free text, in which case it must contain at least the following information: three names of the submitter, address, telephone and email address, if any; the names of the person against whom the report is filed and his workplace, if the report is filed against a specific person and he is known to you; specific details of a violation or of a real danger that such a violation will be committed; place and period of commission of the violation, if such was committed; description of the act or the situation and other circumstances, as far as such are known to the reporting person; date of submission of the report; signature, electronic signature or other identification of the sender.

A verbal report is filed by filling in the form according to the CPLD model by the responsible officer, who offers the person submitting the report to sign it if he wishes.

Any kind of sources of information supporting the statements made in it and/or reference to documents can be attached to the alert, including indicating data on persons who could confirm the reported data or provide additional information.

If the signal does not meet any of the requirements, the responsible person sends a message to correct the irregularities within 7 (seven) days of receiving the signal. If the irregularities are not corrected within this period, the signal together with its attachments are returned.

Registration of a signal sent through an internal channel

Within 7 (seven) days of the receipt of the signal through an internal channel, the company registers it in the internal register for signals under ZZLPSPOIN, along with the unique identification number of the signal issued by the CPLD. The whistleblower is notified of the completed registration.

Viewing a signal transmitted through an internal channel

Reports are considered under the terms and conditions of ZZLPSPOIN. Based on valid reports, i.e. those from the scope of ZZLPSPOIN, within a period of 3 (three) months from the registration of the signal, an inspection is carried out, in the course of which appropriate actions are taken.

In connection with an ongoing investigation, the responsible person has the right to request additional information from the whistleblower, as well as from third parties, to hear the affected person, who in turn has the right to object and to present evidence in defense of his claims. If it is necessary to take action with the assistance of a state body, the report can be forwarded to the CPLD, for which the whistleblower is notified in a timely manner.

Signals that:

They are submitted anonymously, unless the responsible person decides to initiate an investigation;
They refer to violations committed more than 2 (two) years ago;
Contain allegations of violations outside the scope of the Act.

Verification Results, Privacy and Liability

Within 3 (three) months from the registration of the signal, a report is prepared with a brief description of the information from the signal, the results of the inspection and the actions taken on it. The report is provided to the whistleblower and also to the person affected by the whistleblower, while preserving the whistleblower’s anonymity.

The signal and the materials collected during the inspection are stored for a period of 3 (three) years, unless a law or other regulatory act requires a different storage period. The whistleblower’s identity is protected by appropriate confidentiality measures. Forwarding of the signal is carried out only in the cases provided for by law and in a large part of them upon notification of the upcoming forwarding to the whistleblower.

A person who has knowingly filed a report or publicly disclosed false information may be fined by the Personal Data Protection Commission with a fine of BGN 3,000 (three thousand) to BGN 7,000 (seven thousand).

More information

For more information about the rights and obligations under the Law on the Protection of Persons Submitting Whistleblowers or Publicly Disclosing Information on Violations, you can read the full text of the law via this link. The section of Frequently Asked Questions in connection with the implementation of the AZLPSPOIN on the website of the CPLD is available through this link.