The First Private Militia was beheaded with two bullets

Georgi Nikolov was killed a month and a half after Vasil Iliev

Friends of the Bear: “First they took his business, then – his life”

They suspect the Russian mafia behind the shooting

For 27 years after the shooting of the boss of the largest security company on the South Black Sea coast, there is no trace of the killers. In 1995, the underworld had not yet recovered from the murder of Vasil Iliev, when the newly created VIS-2 gave a new victim – former special police officer Georgi Nikolov – the Bear. There are several versions, but none of them has gathered the necessary evidence. The murder thus remains unsolved. The name of the most famous security guard in the seaside town is remembered by the people of Burgas to this day.

The day is June 10, 1995 and nothing portends the tragedy that will take place around 7.30 pm in Burgas. The gangster wars are just beginning, only a month and a half earlier a killer killed the leader of the VIS – the group that instills fear among all living things in Bulgaria. Her boss Vasil Iliev was shot dead, his brother Georgi took over the case. Former special police officer Georgi Nikolov – The Bear has joined the group with dubious fame. He is a 28-year-old healthy man who has earned the respect of his fellow citizens since he was a uniformed employee of the Specialized Unit for Protection of Public Order in the seaside town.
The name and nickname of the Bear became famous on January 3, 1993, when he and his colleague Naiden Milkov (later a folk singer) managed to defeat 19 armed men who attacked the casino of the Cosmos Hotel.

The bear was shot only a month and a half after bullets killed VIS founder Vasil Iliev.

Revenge on the two, however, is not long in coming. On May 21, 1993, police arrested him on charges of armed robbery of former wrestling champion Ivan Ginov, who claimed to have beaten him and stolen BGN 15,000. Among those in uniform, it is said that their colleagues have fallen victim to staging, and their careers have already been ruined. Nikolov and Milkov went on hunger strike in custody and three weeks later were released on bail and fired by the Interior Ministry. Then they decide that they will start a security business – the only thing they can do best. Together with the former champion in wrestling Rali Penkov, the two registered the company “First Private Militia”.

The bear is emerging as the undisputed leader of the new structure and in just a few months the company is taking over the southern Black Sea coast. More than 2,000 security guards work for her, and her stickers are on every disco, shop and restaurant in the area. “First Private Mile” guards over 80% of all sites on the South Black Sea coast, but meets resistance from his former colleagues. The regional directorate of the Ministry of Interior refuses the company’s license due to complaints from traders that the inscription “Police” written in Latin is read on the stickers of the PMM.

An additional extra for banning her work is that her bosses use radio frequencies without permission from the Interdepartmental Commission on Radio Frequencies. Thus, the company was forced to rename itself “Olympus” and reoriented (similar to VIS-1) to the insurance business as a representative of VIS-2 for the Burgas region. It is not clear to which of the “big ones” the Bear crosses the road. The day before he was killed, he hosted a celebration in Sunny Beach on the occasion of the opening of the new luxury disco for Iceberg fighters. The party was attended by the new boss of VIS-2 Georgi Iliev, as well as MPs from the BSP and the Bulgarian Business Bloc. The bullets whistled around 7.30 pm when the Bear got out of his black Porsche in front of the Atlant Sports Club in the Slaveykov complex in Burgas. Two of them hit the former police officer in the head, one tore his carotid artery, but he is still alive. Those close to him jumped out of the restaurant in seconds and heard his last words: “I will shake you, I will kill you!” Whether Nikolov knew any of the killers is still unclear, because immediately after that he lost a creature. Within minutes he was taken to hospital, where he died.

The police started working on several versions, linking the murder of Vasil Iliev with that of the Bear. The speculation is that the two were commissioned by the same man who wants to take over the appetizing security business on the southern Black Sea coast. As for the contractors of the wet contract, Russians are under suspicion. The reason is the testimony of eyewitnesses who describe the shooter as thin, tall, light blond, short-haired, with a narrow elongated face, bright eyes and protruding ears. According to one version, the shooting was revenge for the murder of Lithuanian Valery Silarub – a juicy representative of the Russian mafia in our country. He was liquidated near the Golden Apple disco, which at that time was guarded by VIS-2. The bear makes other enemies among the “brothers”. He is in serious conflict with the Russian Anatoly Domnushkin, who has a chain of stores in Burgas. The foreigner accuses Nikolov’s men of kidnapping his secretary, Elena Pogorelova.

In January 1996, Anatoly and the two Ukrainians were detained for shooting the Bear. Witnesses point to one of them as the man who fired the fatal shots on June 10. Foreigners deny everything, the evidence is insufficient to stand trial. They were released and expelled from the country, there are no other traces of possible police killers. The day after Nikolov’s murder, his friends announced a BGN 3 million reward for the one who pointed out the traces of his killer. It remains undiscovered to this day. After the Bear’s death, his security company gradually disintegrates because he is the strong figure who holds it. The shops and restaurants in Burgas and the region are decorated with new stickers of new players, among which the most active are the newly created security guards and insurers from the PEC.

For 27 years after his murder, his acquaintances remember him only well and claim that he was a man of honor and honesty. Their comment on his murder was brief: “First they took his business, then his life.”

An annual tournament is held in his name

He founded a bodybuilding club in Burgas

Nikolov has been involved in bodybuilding, his name is an annual tournament held in Burgas.

Georgi Nikolov – The Bear is a graduate of the Sports School in Burgas and the School for Police Sergeants in Pazardzhik. He is a former chief sergeant of the Burgas Special Unit for the Protection of Public Order (SPOOR). His former colleagues remember him as an extremely brave law enforcement officer. The bear gets its nickname because of the extraordinary power it possesses. His big hobby is bodybuilding, which he has been doing since he was a student. It marks the beginning of the current Atlant Sports Club. Most of the appliances in it are handmade and brought by the Bear and his friends. His loyal supporters created the “Bear” tournament, which annually presents to its stage all those equally inspired athletes who accept bodybuilding not only as a sport, but as a way of life.

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