© National History Museum
– Some of the artifacts from Bozhkov’s collection, displayed by the National History Museum.
Vasil Bozhkov, a businessman living in Dubai on charges of 18 crimes, announced that he had bought several items from his collection of antiques on the open market, which the prosecutor’s office seized in Bulgaria, considering them illegal.
The prosecutor’s office repeatedly described and seized thousands of artifacts from Bozhkov’s home and office, stating the intention. to attract experts from abroadto establish the cultural-historical and financial value of the collection belonging, according to the prosecution, to the Bulgarian state.
In a statement last year the prosecutor’s office also showed photos and video of the seized items from Bozhkov’s office, which are stored in the National History Museum. This was in response to the businessman’s claims that one of his rhytons was offered for sale on the free market. However, the rhyton in question was never shown to the media in order to dispel the doubts raised by the businessman.
Today, Bozhkov said that he never managed to redeem the rhyton, but regained several other of the seized antiques. He assured that he would return them to Bulgaria and then show them. He added that he plans to return immediately after the July 11th elections, when he expects his Bulgarian Summer party to become a leading political force. If Bozhkov becomes an MP, he will enjoy immunity. However, opinion polls at this stage do not see a “Bulgarian Summer” among the participants in the next parliament.
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