The former finance minister is part of a pre-trial proceeding for the extortion of Vasil Bozhkov, according to which the police had detained him illegally
All five persons sanctioned by the US in the second list under the “Magnitsky” law are being prosecuted, prosecuted or investigated in Bulgaria. This was announced by the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, after the USA announced the sanctions last Friday.
There is a pending bankruptcy case against former Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov due to a contract between the state-owned Mini Bobov Dol and a private coal mining company. He was given a suspended sentence at two instances, but the Supreme Court overturned the sentence and sent the case back for a new trial.
The leader of the Russophiles, Nikolai Malinov, was charged at first instance with espionage (see box below). There is a pre-trial proceeding for corruption against the former head of the Kozloduy NPP Ivan Genov and his deputy Alexander Nikolov, which also includes Ovcharov, according to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office.
Vladislav Goranov is also under investigation. The prosecutor’s office recalls that already in April of this year a request was sent to the UAE to question Vasil Bozhkov as a witness in the case, but there was no response from there. We are talking about the investigation that was started as a matter of urgency in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On March 17, 2022, Boyko Borisov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelina Arnaudova were detained for 24 hours. The pre-trial proceedings were conducted in the police for
the blackmailing of the accused businessman
His testimony was taken over the Internet. In them he claimed that he was blackmailed for money. After the case was reported to the prosecutor’s office, no charges were filed. The investigation started all over again because only investigators can investigate crimes committed by members of the Council of Ministers. 10 months later, no charges.
While the Ministry of Internal Affairs was working on the case, Goranov was under investigation for extorting Bozhkov. Resolutions for bringing him as a defendant for this crime were prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became public when the arrests were appealed. This investigation became the occasion for further scandals between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the prosecutor’s office and mutual accusations of umbrella over corruption and incompetence. According to “Magnitsky”, however, Goranov was not sanctioned for extortion.
“As Minister of Finance, he participated in a corruption scheme, as a result of which Bulgarian
officials received tens of millions of euros
in exchange for legislation favoring circles in the gambling business,” the reasons for the sanctions read. This is the still debatable point, whether a change in the gambling law gave Bozhkov the opportunity to choose which tariff to pay. The USA also indicates that Goranov used his position to support the bribery of Bulgarian government officials and thus deprived the state of BGN 600 million in favor of oligarchs.” For the same, but in a different case, Bozhkov and former heads of the already closed State Gambling Commission are accused.
Discrepancy between the cases in Bulgaria and the reasons for imposing American sanctions.
For example, the USA sanctions Rumen Ovcharov as a participant in corruption schemes under contracts with Russian energy companies for gas and fuel for the Kozloduy NPP. They indicate that he received over 5 million euros in offshore accounts when he was Minister of Energy. There is no such accusation against him in our country. Both are about selflessness. In the case that is still pending, it is about “Mini Bobov Dol”, and in the other case – about bankruptcy during the construction of the Belene NPP. However, it was discontinued a year ago.
It is not clear whether Ovcharov, Nikolov and Genov are being investigated for corruption in the pre-trial proceedings, which have not been officially announced and have been ongoing since 2016.
After the announcement of the second list under “Magnitsky”, the prosecutor’s office requested information about those sanctioned by the security services. An inquiry will also be sent to the USA, as was done when the first list was announced in 2021 with Delyan Peevski, Vasil Bozhkov and Ilko Zhelyazkov.
Malinov in Moscow with Lavrov, his accounts blocked
Nikolai Malinov is going to Moscow for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he announced in court on Wednesday as the next hearing in the espionage case against him took place. In addition to Lavrov, the US-sanctioned politician will also talk to other people to advise him on how to react to his inclusion in the “Magnitsky” list.
In fact, Malinov meets regularly with Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, an investigation by “24 Hours” showed. He was with him in September, and then in October of this year. According to official information, they talked about the role of Russophile movements in building a full-fledged and positive image of Russia.
“I don’t care about America. I haven’t been there and I don’t intend to. I am not anyone’s spy,” Malinov said before the hearing in the case and called the US report “lies and fabrications.” However, he admitted that the sanctions have already affected him because his bank cards and some accounts were blocked. In addition, there were difficulties with the CEC registration of the coalition, in which his party will participate together with “Attaka” of Volen Siderov.
Washington announced that it was putting him on the sanctions list because of a bribe he gave to judge Andon Mitalov to let him travel to Russia and receive an order from Putin himself there. Mitalov was the first Bulgarian hit by “Magnitsky” for the same case from the time when Malinov was still under investigation. Both of them do not have similar charges in our country.
