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MILEN VELCHEV
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The deal is from May 23, but was blocked by the Registry Agency
Former Finance Minister Milen Velchev, his brother Georgi Velchev and financier Krassimir Katev, who was Milen Velchev’s deputy in the NMSS government, have asked to buy the business of Russia’s VTB Bank in Bulgaria, according to documents in the Commercial Register. The three are part of the company’s top management.
24 Chasa asked them for comment, but did not answer their mobile phones.
Delta Capital Investments, in which Velchevi and Katev are partners, has submitted a request to the Registry Agency for the acquisition of 100% of VTB Capital AD. This is a subsidiary of the Russian bank, through which it operates in Bulgaria. In addition, the current board members Nicholas Jonathan Mark Hutt, Roger Munger and Jonathan Simon Klus have been asked to be released, and Milen Velchev has been named as the new manager.
However, the change of ownership was refused on May 23 by the Registry Agency, the documents show. The reason is that VTB, the second largest bank in Russia, is included in the sanctions that Europe, the United States and Britain have imposed on Russian business since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
VTB was also excluded from the SWIFT payment system. Therefore, the Russian bank announced that it will withdraw from Europe, where VTB owns VTB Bank Europe with assets of about 8 billion euros. The unit was put up for sale after the sanctions were imposed.
In Bulgaria, VTB Capital was among the shareholders in the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company. However, in 2019, when the telecom was bought by United Group, the Russians announced that they had sold their entire stake.
Prior to that, VTB Capital had investments in Bulgartabac and held a stake in the closed CCB.
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