Denis Ershov’s heirs want $ 840 million from Bulgaria

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Denis Ershov died in 2017. Four years later, his heirs are seeking $ 840 million in compensation from Bulgaria. PHOTO: Photo: “24 Hours”

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The heirs of the deceased Lithuanian businessman Denis Ershov want $ 840 million from Bulgaria. They have sent a notarial invitation to the Ministry of Finance to be paid the amount as compensation for the expropriation of the assets of the company “Petrol”. If their request was not granted, Ershov’s heirs would file a lawsuit in the World Bank’s Arbitration Court in Washington.

According to Ershov’s heirs, they were victims of illegal actions by the Varna District Court, the Registry Agency and the Financial Supervision Commission. Because of this, Ershov and his heirs were deprived of property. Ershov’s direct heirs are his wife Elena and their daughter Vasilisa. Ershova also has a son, Arthur, but he is from another man and it is not clear whether he is included in the claims to the Bulgarian state.

Lawyer Ivaylo Dermendzhiev, who is one of the lawyers in the case, told Mediapool that there is no application to the arbitration of the World Bank to consider the case yet, analyzes are being made.

The Ministry of Finance confirmed to 24 Chasa that they had received the letter from Ershov’s heirs. The documents are currently being reviewed by lawyers to assess what action to take.

Lawyers who specialize in arbitration argue that the likelihood of a lawsuit is small because a fee is required. In this case, with claims of 840 million dollars, this means that several million fees will be paid, and it is unlikely that Ershov’s heirs had such a large amount.

Currently, Petrol, which is a public company and whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, is controlled by several companies that are associated with businessman Grisha Ganchev, who participates in the company’s management.

Before that, however, there were several changes of ownership, and in 2011 the company found itself at the center of a noisy scandal between the owners. At the time, businessman Mitko Sabev owned 47.5% of Petrol, while Denis Ershov and Alexander Melnik owned a total of 52.5%. The two foreigners and Sabev fought a fierce battle for control of the company and accused each other of abuse. Denis Ershov even sent a signal to the prosecutor’s office, claiming that Sabev turned out to be a swindler. In response, Sabev stated that his partner had health problems that prevented him from making a realistic assessment.

In 2013, Sabev’s companies received loans from Corporate Commercial Bank for nearly 100 million euros. The debts were never repaid, and under the debt-to-property scheme in early 2014, Petrol was acquired by companies close to the then majority owner of CCB, Tsvetan Vassilev.

In September 2014, when KTB was already closed, Grisha Ganchev joined the management of Petrol, and the headquarters of the company were moved from Sofia to Lovech – Ganchev’s hometown.

In 2015, the trustees of CCB filed a lawsuit against Petrol for the recovery of over BGN 234 million. Some of the claims were rejected by various courts. Lawyers commented that the claims of Ershov’s heirs have nothing to do with KTB and the trustees, as they concern a period before the bank’s bankruptcy.

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