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The first millionaire in Burgas since 1989 – businessman Emil Raykov has died at the age of 70, said a man from his former circle. For many of the young people his name is unknown, but for the older ones he is one of the most significant faces of the transition in the city and for a certain period of time – the richest man in Burgas.
During the socialist era, Emil Raykov did not shine with a career and high positions, he did not appear either in the party or in the state. He earns his living as an ordinary disc jockey on the Black Sea coast, and during the day he supplements his income with a change and small scams.
After November 10, Raykov opened the first video library in Burgas and his business grew rapidly – he opened restaurants, became a car dealer, etc. In September 1993, together with the former counterintelligence officer Onik Kalustyan, they founded the notorious First Private Militia, which included former top police officers from the Burgas riot control unit (BMB) – Georgi Nikolov – Mechkata and Naiden Milkov.
The first office of the security guards is located in Raykov’s newest restaurant – “Europool” in the center of Burgas. At the beginning of 1994, however, Raykov left the company and created the first private terrestrial television in Bulgaria – RENT TV. The venture required huge investments for its time and Emil Raykov took out a loan from First Private Bank in the amount of $ 600,000 and bought state-of-the-art equipment.
In the local elections in October 1995, he ran as an independent municipal councilor and managed to enter the Municipality of Burgas, after receiving 8% of the vote.
The trouble began in late May 1997, when police attacked his Kraimorie cigarette factory. During a routine inspection, a patrol car found 20 Melnik master boxes and 30 Marlboro master boxes in a Mercedes van without documents for the goods. Later it turned out that the excise labels of all Melnik packages had the same numbers, and the Marlboro boxes had excise labels for Bulgarian cigarettes.
About 40,000 packages of Melnik and 10,000 boxes of Marlboro were found and confiscated at the factory. The owner, Theo International, had an official license, but only for the production of MM and Street cigarettes, and the Melnik and Marlborough counterfeits were made from the same tobacco.
According to the expertise, only the four cigarette machines are worth about one million dollars.
In fact, inspections of the workshop began two years earlier – on March 25, 1995, when the economic police and tax authorities found here five tons of tobacco in bales of 35 kg, various consumables and ready-made cigarettes. At that time, Theo International did not yet have a production license, and Emil Raykov’s explanation was more than logical: the pieces found were prototypes produced to acquire technological habits and professional skills. a total of seven police actions, but all ended without success.
After the smashing of the cigarette business, Emil Raykov’s financial power declined and in early 1998 he disappeared with his girlfriend to Dubai, leaving many debts. He was declared nationally wanted, but was never found.
According to unconfirmed information, he also lived in Los Angeles for some time. He returned to Bulgaria quietly a few years ago and settled in Sofia.
When in 2013 the Commission on Dossiers published a list of State Security agents, it became clear that in 1985 Emil Raikon was recruited as a secret collaborator with the pseudonym Agent Kanchev, writes “Flagman”.
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