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The district court in the southern town of Dimitrovgrad has found Boryana Georgieva, the organizer in the tragic trip to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, guilty of not having the required registration as a tour operator, Novinite reports.
The judge imposed Thursday a fine of BGN 4,500 [2,300 euros] on Georgieva and banned her from any business activities for 2 years.
The ruling can be appealed within 15 days to the higher regional court in the city of Haskovo.
Georgieva stated she does not feel guilty and will appeal. She says she had a permit to take people on trips abroad.
15 Bulgarians died on September 5, 2009 when the tour boat Ilinden capsized in the Ohrid Lake.
Ilinden was 200 metres from shore when it sank into the deepest lake in the region, and a popular Balkans tourist attraction, at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
At the time the Captain's Charge of Port in Ohrid said the ship was made in Germany in the 1920s and was properly tested and registered for 45 passengers. However, at the time of accident 74 tourists were on board, 62 of them Bulgarian citizens.
At the beginning of March this year, the Macedonian authorities closed their investigation into the sinking of the tourist boat, but the outcome has not been made public.
Last week Skopje banned all navigation of boats in the lake unless they obtain the newly requested technical safety certificates. The harbour master in Ohrid banned the boats from sailing as their owners refuse to pay some 7700 thousand euros to a French company that has been recently contracted to conduct the inspection that is carried out each year.
The judge imposed Thursday a fine of BGN 4,500 [2,300 euros] on Georgieva and banned her from any business activities for 2 years.
The ruling can be appealed within 15 days to the higher regional court in the city of Haskovo.
Georgieva stated she does not feel guilty and will appeal. She says she had a permit to take people on trips abroad.
15 Bulgarians died on September 5, 2009 when the tour boat Ilinden capsized in the Ohrid Lake.
Ilinden was 200 metres from shore when it sank into the deepest lake in the region, and a popular Balkans tourist attraction, at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
At the time the Captain's Charge of Port in Ohrid said the ship was made in Germany in the 1920s and was properly tested and registered for 45 passengers. However, at the time of accident 74 tourists were on board, 62 of them Bulgarian citizens.
At the beginning of March this year, the Macedonian authorities closed their investigation into the sinking of the tourist boat, but the outcome has not been made public.
Last week Skopje banned all navigation of boats in the lake unless they obtain the newly requested technical safety certificates. The harbour master in Ohrid banned the boats from sailing as their owners refuse to pay some 7700 thousand euros to a French company that has been recently contracted to conduct the inspection that is carried out each year.