Georgi Gergov is one of the richest and most influential Bulgarians and he is officially Moscow's man in Bulgaria. He is the Honorary Russian Consul for Bulgaria, a Russian citizen with a Bulgarian passport whose fortune is estimated at billions. Georgi Gergov is a man who has managed to do business through any management. From being a supporter of the Bulgarian Democrats (SDS), he managed to do good business during the reign of the Bulgarian Monarch Simeon Saxe-Cuborgotski, and even more successful business under GERB and Boyko Borisov.
Georgi Gergov was born on 12.12.1956 in the village of Dzhurilovo, where he is also a significant figure of the Communist Party Georgi Tanev - First Secretary of the Communist Party of Bulgaria, then Minister in various ministries before and after 10.11.1989. In 1975 he started working in a pig complex in the village of Manole. Thanks to his friends, in 1985 he was already a director. In 1989, a scandal broke out in the enterprise for missing 300 000 BGN and he was removed from it. The turbulent political events of the same year saved him from prison. In 1991 he started working at the Ministry of Agriculture. At that time, grain trade was a highly regulated process by the state and could not develop without protection from the ministry. The many permits and licenses made the trade almost prescribed by the ministry. Gergov was in the right place and in 1991 he entered the grain export and import business, quickly increasing turnover.One year later he was rehired at the pig farm in the village of St. Petersburg. He began the endless weaving of business schemes in which the most important thing was to acquire property without investing equity. Cancerous formations are emerging in the structure of society that will metastasize throughout the transition period.
The first millions were in 1993-1994 during the uncontrolled years of the government of Lyuben Berov (Minister of Agriculture was Georgi Tanev). The strong ones are the G13 circle. The bankruptcy of the banking system was prepared in 1996 with the tacit consent of the ruling BNB. The US corn scandal, for which Georgi Tanev and the banker Emil Herssev (a Freemason) are on trial, also explodes. This is part of the aid through the PAC, which is sinking into crony companies, such as that of Gergov. The oligarch's business also includes the "cult" Plovdiv banks - "Agrobusinessbank" and "Trakia Bank" owned by the famous "bankers" Hristo Alexandrov, Hristo Danov, Georgi Stoychev, Georgi Trifonov and Tanyo Valev (all Freemasons). These businessmen were then clients of the prosecution, but Gergov - no?! At that time the Masonic lodge "Sun Orient" was founded with "bash master" Georgi Gergov, in which many prosecutors, judges, journalists, mayors and businessmen are members, the names of these people will meet later. Later the showman Slavi buys an apartment of 240 square meters in the luxury complex "Port Palace" in the resort "Sunny Day" owned by Gergov. The mechanism for the implementation of business projects is being built according to the mafia models. Preparations are being made for the great robbery of the banking system through the creation of dozens of private banks with BNB and DSK money and the distribution of unsecured loans. About 10 000 credit millionaires are born. This is also the time of the pyramids. Gergov takes two loans from the Agency for Foreign Aid (AFA), which at that time was managed by Petko Simeonov: two loans for BGN 23 million and BGN 10 million. He has already been appointed to manage the pig complex in Manole village (NPK cooperative) by the governor Stefan Stoyanov - father of the president Petar Stoyanov. In 1992 the UDF cooperatives were liquidated and liquidators were appointed. This money was never returned to the PBA, which is documented by the agency's 1991-93 audit report. All traces were erased in 1997 when Emilia Maslarova closed the agency. Gergov wanted to fit into the capital's business circles and sought contacts with the Lukanov circle. The friendship with the last communist mayor before democracy - Todor Petkov - began. Petkov has many contacts in the higher circles of the Red Party, especially around Lukanov, and has turned to developing a construction business, or has the same value system as Gergov. This friendship continues to this day, and is bequeathed to the children of both businessmen. Ivan Kostov also revolves around Lukanov, who is trying to enter big politics. At the end of the 1990s, he would actually realize Lukanov's dream of transferring state property into "certain narrowly defined" private hands. Later, Georgi Tanev's son Ivan Tanev was accused of stealing VAT from the state in particularly large amounts for importing food products. In 1995 the BSP won the elections.
In the last days before Zhang Videnov came to power, Gergov bought the pig complex in the village of Manole at no price from the Ministry of Agriculture, with the money accumulated from the grain trade and unpaid loans. Again the links with the government are working now. Feed mills and pig complexes in Stara Zagora, Burgas, etc. have also been bought. Sausage factories and dozens of shops are also under the family's management. During this period, Gergov's business interests met with Atanas Tyrev and the group around him, but only briefly, because this group turned to the metallurgical plant in Shishmantsi and the garbage business. Significantly, the new regional governor Petko Tsarev (very close to Prime Minister Videnov) did nothing to harm Gergov's business. At the end of 1996 and the beginning of 1997. Gergov already held a significant share of the business with feed, pig complexes, meat and sausages. Gergov was in danger of bankruptcy. The market in Russia has collapsed, and in Bulgaria a fierce crisis of hyperinflation and a blocked domestic market is raging. The businessman's financial situation is critical because the banks are squeezing him and he has no money to feed the hundreds of thousands of animals he feeds every day. He decided to get out of this business and concentrate on tourism. Interestingly, in the events of the winter of 1996-1997, he was the only one who was involved in the business. Gergov was on the side of the "barricades of the SDS" i.e. against the BSP?! This is normal, because the Prime Minister Jean Videnov had declared war on the "charbajis" and Gergov had already entered the club of millionaires. The link is made through the Chairman of the Municipal Council, Krassimir Obretenov of the SDS, and materializes in aid for the strikers. Everything was done with the tacit consent of the then leaders of SDS - Andon Andonov and Spas Garnevski. This was an investment in the incoming new rulers, which was later justified at the local level. The relationship with Obretenov was not broken in the following years, as he was put on the management board of "Puldin Tour Invest" in 2006 with a serious remuneration.
Gergov was also involved in the sponsorship of SDS at the national level, through some media and political bosses (Yuliy Moskov, Bogomil Bonev and Emil Kyulev - later an advisor to Parvanov). These investments will return many times during the rule of SDS - 1997 - 2001. A series of meetings were held between Ivan Kostov and BSP functionaries - Nikola Dobrev, Andrei Lukanov and Bogomil Bonev. The aim is to transfer power, but to maintain the policy of the transition to transfer state assets into the hands of a certain political elite. In 1997, the government of the Republic of Belarus was elected. In 1997 the UDF came to power. The lifeline for the nearly bankrupt Gergov was handed by the Kostov government, which used the mechanism created by the Videnov government for privatization-labor-managerial. The authors of this mechanism failed to take advantage of their creation, but the next government managed in this way to "sell" 30 billion euros of state property for 3 billion euros to its own people. Ivan Kostov respected the agreements reached in the meetings with Nikola Dobrev in January 1997 not to hang the BSP people gravitating around the Lukanov circle. Bogomil Bonev was appointed Interior Minister under pressure from the same circles. Gergov hates people like Videnov because they do not sell out and starts to get close to Georgi Parvanov. At this point Gergov is dark blue and with the help of a number of rulers from the blue government acquires through RMDs the hotel "St. Petersburg"( for 1.5million dollars?!), the company "Old Plovdiv" ( hotels and restaurants), and the resort complex of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the resort "Druzhba" known as "Sunny Day" ( for 8million. The peculiarity of these transactions is that they are linked to each other - for example, for the acquisition of the Central Department Store "Sunny Day" is mortgaged to the banks, and the Central Department Store itself is mortgaged. If at some point the banks call in their loans at the same time the "tower of cards" will collapse. A textbook could be written about each of these deals, how you can acquire state property for tens of millions without giving a single lev. It gets to the point that he becomes a crony of Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev! Gergov has another crony - Emil Kyulev, who in turn is close to Michael Chorney. In the 1990s he managed the notorious "Tourist Sport Bank", which went bankrupt in 1997. In 1998, the company was also the owner of the company. Kyulev bought the Plovdiv bank "Trakia Bank", as part of the deal is the other crony B. Bonev to save from the law enforcement authorities the previous owners, who have already served 11 months in the investigation. At the center of the deal, of course, is the kuma. Later (in 1999) the renamed "Roseksimbank" of Kyulev credited the purchases of the Kuma - the Sunny Day complex and almost all other privatization deals. The battles around this bank continued over the next 10 years with assassinations, lawyers and murder threats. The family also has other famous cronies - Vetko and Marinela Arabadzhiev. A close friend of Ilia Pavlov and his partner, Arabadzhiev bought the sugar combine in Plovdiv, hotels on the Black Sea, Pamporovo and in Plovdiv. After Gergov acquired the Fair their relationship deteriorated on a purely competitive basis in tourism. Alongside Ilia Pavlov - Vetko is very close to the MRF, and his father-in-law Georgi Gergov to Ivan Kostov. From that time is also the friendship of the Kuma with Angel Stefanov, another crony of Ilia Pavlov, who together with the Kuma Vetko runs the sugar and alcohol business in the town under the hills.
During the reign of Mayor Chomakov (1999-2007) the businessman Angel Stefanov "got" three very important concessions - the Pedestrian Bridge, the Saturday market and the public transport stops. The next mayor, Slavcho Atanasov, publicly called these deals a "legal freak" against the municipality, but he never dared to break them because no one in Plovdiv dares to go against the oligarch and his friends. They are very - connected to each other T. Batkov ( a friend of Kyulev and Chorny), Dinevi brothers, Kr. Gergov and many others. Interesting are the relations with the strong at that time Minister of Finance Muravay Radev, who also conquered the business in Plovdiv. The relationship with him is maintained through Veselin Doshkov - who has just "bought" the huge company of DAP - Plovdiv. A distribution of spheres of influence and cooperation in some areas, such as transport, is being achieved. The friendship between Gergov and Doshkov continued for many years, with Doshkov's company Hebros Bus gradually taking over both urban and intercity transport. All the time Gergov's friends - the mayors supported the development of this company at the expense of others, including the municipal "City Transport" AD. Doshkov himself is an invariable participant of all cocktails and dinners organized in Gergov's hotels and restaurants. Blue is sure to have another term and all businessmen are oriented in this direction. In 2000 (19.10.2000) Gergov told the newspaper "Maritsa" that "I and the SDS are one, the BSP is finished"!!
At the same time Gergov sold his old business (the complexes in Manole, Stara Zagora, Haskovo and Burgas) and started to build his new image of a "clean" businessman. In 1999, Ivan Chomakov was elected mayor (a mason from the lodge). At the end of the same year the city leader of the BSP Plamen Chervenyakov was removed by apparatus methods and his place was taken by Zahari Georgiev (relative of Draja Valcheva). At the same time a new personality appeared in Plovdiv - Rumen Petkov. He is close to Andrei Lukanov, as mayor of Pleven. Naturally, he also became close to Gergov. He will also be an important factor in future events. Another friendship was formed - Gergov- Petkov- Valentin Petrov, head of the Regional Department of Internal Affairs at the time. Later, when Rumen Petkov became a minister, he took this friend as secretary-general. At that time Gergov demonstrated loyalty to the right-wing government. With the coming of the tsarist cabinet to power (2001) it turned out that Gergov was a "tsarevich" all his life and at the lavish meals in the resort the blue ministers were replaced by yellow ones. At that time the friendship with the brothers Milen and Georgi Velchev - the new players in the tourism business - began. The banks continued to pressure the credit millionaire and he had to part with the hotel in the resort in Hisar - sold to a well-known businessman from the cosmetics business (D. Georgiev) and the hotel "Bulgaria" in the center of Plovdiv - sold to another" businessman from the underground of the transition". Relations with the King are maintained through the famous restaurateur Dido Danailov. Gergov was grateful to Danailov and attracted Danailov's son Plamen, who for many years managed the water park of the St. Petersburg Hotel, into the business around him.
At the same time Georgi Parvanov became president and the friendship between the two Georgievs began, which has remained unchanged over the years. What Gergov himself says about this friendship in an interview. Persistent in pursuit. I like him. He's one of my guys. He didn't come with laces around his neck. We're peasants and we always will be. We carry on a tough street fight." In 2003, the incumbent mayor, Dr. Chomakov, and the BSP leader, Zachary Georgiev, fought in the local elections. Dr. Chomakov won the ballot by a margin of 2,000 votes (this margin will be repeated in the 2011 elections). Gergov is split because he is close to Dr. Chomakov through the Masonic line and at the same time he feels that BSP is on the rise and will win the parliamentary elections. For sure he sponsors both of them. However, on the ballot, he stood behind Chomakov and this also contributed to his victory. The rumor in town is that this was a deal between the two candidates sponsored by the businessman. BSP came back to power in 2005. Gergov again remembers that he was once a member of the BSP and turns red. The first thing the businessman hurries to do is to convince Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, together with city leader Zahari Georgiev, to appoint his old friend Todor Petkov (a lodge mason) as governor. Petkov has all the credentials - he comes from an old party family, he was one of the youngest mayors of the city just before democracy, but he has one problem - right after 1990 he left politics demonstratively and went into business. Now that he will have real power, he can turn his back on business and return to politics supported by his friends. Of course every thing pays and that will come true very soon. Once again the ministers are changing tables and lavish celebrations begin at the St Petersburg Hotel. The businessman's 50th birthday ( December 2006) is celebrated in a particularly glamorous manner, attended by the entire elite of Sofia and the country. In the restaurant of the hotel are everyone - from the President Georgi Parvanov, through the then mayor of Sofia Boyko Borisov to the media gurus - Tosho Toshev and Venelina Gocheva, the intellectuals close to the President grouped around the publisher Ivan Granitsky. ) The magistrates are represented by prosecutors Rosen Dimov ( head of the appellate prosecutor's office), Dimitar Angelov ( head of the district prosecutor's office - his wife is Gergov's lawyer), Andrei Atanasov ( head of the district prosecutor's office) and many judges headed by Sotir Tsatsarov - president of a district court. Naturally the head of the police is Commissioner Yordan Kyumurdzhiev and Commissioner Angel Rangelov - former and current head of the police in the district. Later both of them threw themselves into politics sponsored by the birthday boy. Here is also the group around Parvanov - Rumen Petkov, Kornelia Ninova, Petar Mutafchiev, etc. The curious thing is that almost all of them are members of the Masonic lodge headed by Gergov. For two hours an endless queue of guests presented gifts to the Gergov family, and the pyramid of bouquets reached the ceiling of the restaurant. The battle for the pearl in the Gergov family's crown - International Fair Plovdiv - begins. In 2005-2007.
The Plovdiv Fair experienced a tumultuous period of rise. Every year the revenues and profit doubled; the number of exhibitions reached 50 per year and due to lack of space only 85% of the exhibitors' requests were satisfied. The board of directors is led by Deputy Minister Kornelia Ninova and representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior. The Executive Director, Jordan Radev, has an interesting biography, from a loyal son of the Party before 1989 and in 1990-1991, through the UDF to the NDSV, with his wife Nina Radeva also a deputy minister in Rumen Ovcharov's team. The valuation of the property and land of the fair in the centre of Plovdiv exceeds BGN 500 million without taking into account the other assets. Plovdiv's first multi-storey car park with more than 400 parking spaces is almost completed. In 2007 alone, the gross profit exceeded BGN 10 million, but later it sank to unknown places. The total area is 360,000 sqm with 24 exhibition buildings and 95,000 sqm of covered exhibition space. In June 2006 the exhibition was opened. The Board of Directors of the Fair adopted the "Strategy for Development and Restructuring of International Fair EAD - Plovdiv in the period 2006-2010" proposed by the Executive Director Yordan Radev, which for the first time proposed the inclusion of private capital and the municipality in the capital structure of the state-owned company. The document has been submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Energy for adoption and submission to the Council of Ministers. Preparations for the seizure of the fair are being conducted on two fronts - local and national. Tables are being arranged in Gergov's restaurants, where prosecutors, judges, police officers, mayors and deputy mayors, deputies and ministers can be seen. To the municipal councillors of the 51-member local parliament is applied an individual approach for "motivation", and to the mayor Chomakov (he was later appointed director of the oligarch's television) and local party leaders at this time are applied serious "arguments".Especially active is the city leader of the BSP Zakhari Georgiev and this will be rewarded later. Thus, the company "Puldin Tour Invest" was established with a majority of 46 councillors (Decision No. 177/15.06.2006 of the General Assembly), in which the municipality owns 75% of the capital and Gergov - 25% (Decision No. 2261/2006 of the General Assembly). In the meantime, the Strategy for the restructuring of the Fair was adopted and the Municipal Council applied for 49% of the shares of the Fair (Resolution №364/12.10.2006 of the GA) through the company "Puldin Tour Invest" JSC. How the Deal of the Century for the Bulgarian Transition: by Resolution No. 773 of 10.11.2006. The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria adopted the Restructuring Strategy for the Fair on 11.7.2007 and launched the procedure by increasing the capital. On 04.12.2006 (Monday) Gergov submits a request to the Plovdiv District Court /chaired by Sotir Tsatsarov/ requesting the appointment of three experts of his choice (Gizdakov, Hadzhiev, Randelov) for the valuation of his properties (St. Petersburg Hotel, Puldin Restaurant, etc.) as an in-kind contribution to the capital of Puldin Turinvest for participation in the International Fair - Plovdiv. On 07.12.2006 (lightning fast), the PJC assigned to these three experts the valuation of this property and set them a deadline of 1/one/working day - 08.12.2006 (Friday)?! Of course, they managed to meet the uniquely short deadline and within the day they valued the property at 67 765 100lv. Just a few years ago these properties were purchased by the state for several million BGN! Gergov is so sure of their expeditiousness that the same day - Friday - he pays the fees due for the expertise, which are paid after the work is done and accepted by the court. The underestimation of the fair's assets ( about 3-4 times) and the overestimation of the asset ( at least 10 times) led to the acquisition of half the fair without giving a single lev. With this scheme, this deal ranks in the top 5 most scandalous privatization deals of the transition. On 11.12.2006 ( Monday) the PAC accepted the experts' assessment without remarks. What is unique here is that the experts' reports were submitted on the same date on which the court convened the hearing. This means that the court knew that the experts would do their work one business day in advance. On the same day ( 11.12.) the Board of Directors of the hotel "St. Petersburg" AD met, which included Gergov's wife - Velichka Gergova and Gergov's sister - Christina Koleva. Without knowing the decision of the PSC, which met later, they accepted its decision and gave consent for the hotel to be incorporated into the company Puldin Turinvest AD. On the following day, 12.12.2006 (Gergov's birthday), the Board of Directors of Puldin Turinvest S.A. also met and confirmed the transfer. The same week (Friday 15.12.2006) the Board of Directors of "International Fair Plovdiv" met and took three important decisions. On 18.12.2006 (Monday) the Minister Rumen Ovcharov in a flash considered all the circumstances and took the Decision RD- 21- 325/ 18.12.2006 as the principal and owner of the capital and accepted the capital increase with the contribution of the private company. On 19.12.2006, the Executive Director of the Fair, Yordan Radev (at the same time his wife Nina Radeva was Deputy Minister in the same Ministry), submitted a request to the POS for re-registration under the new circumstances. Of course, the PAC reacted promptly and on 21.12.2006 it legalized the transaction with Decision 8263 / 21.12.2006.On 08.01.2007 the Board of Directors of the Fair elected as Executive Director "CUM" JSC-Sofia with representative Georgi Todorov Gergov. A wonderful Christmas present to the Gergov family created by the state and the court within 2 weeks. Exactly after 6 years, on 20.12.2012 Sotir Tsatsarov was elected Prosecutor General of the Republic with the powerful support of the government. The whole Gergovi family rejoices!
At the same time, in the company "Puldin Turinvest" AD itself, several capital increases are carried out under the same scheme of importation of properties with inflated value, which brings the share of the municipality to 25% or actually through it the private person Gergov (with a share of 75%) begins to manage 49% of the capital of the national exhibition center established in the late 19th century. This is of course done with the cooperation of the Municipal Council (Resolution No. 1/18.01.2007), allowing the amendment of the Statute and raising the capital to 200 million BGN. Resolution No. 22 / 08.02.2007. On 07.02.2007 the Municipal Council appropriated to "Puldin Tour Invest" another 300 hectares of land from the capital of "Parks and Gardens" (nursery and greenhouse). In total, the Plovdiv Municipality provides 22 properties with a total area of 360 895 sq.m. or exactly the same area as the fairground. The plots are located next to major boulevards ( Tsarigradskoe shose, Maritsa Sever, Tsar Boris , Rogoshko shose) and the rest are in the Old Town Reserve - houses. The capital of "Puldin Tour Invest" JSC is 170 572 235 shares of one lev each, of which the Municipality of Plovdiv owns 42 609 600 pieces, "Old Plovdiv " - 93 494 384, "Park Hotel "St. Petersburg"- 29 130 425, "Sunny Day"-2 825 432, "CUM"-2 512 384 shares. The Articles of Association of the company give great rights to the Board of Directors and in reality the municipality has no influence in the management of the company. If we project this ownership into the capital of the fair - the municipality indirectly owns 10 - 12% of the exhibition centre?! Again the scheme is implemented, low valuations of municipal properties and high valuations of private properties. May the experts be alive and well to spend their money. Immediately Gergov attacked the restituted owners holding about 2% of the shares and at the end of 2007 they were bought by him. Changes occurred in the board and Paulina Turnovaliyska, wife of the close to Gergov - Georgi Turnovaliyska ( at that time already head of the NRA - Plovdiv and a Freemason) entered. She was also appointed as a procurator of the company, which made her a responsible factor in the management (Decision № 987/05.02.2007 of the District Court - Plovdiv). At the same time, a close friend of Dr. Chomakov and of Muravay Radev - the university lecturer Ivan Sokolov - was appointed as the chief director. The lecturer, who came from Sofia, is a member of the Freemasons and tries to enter the business through the blue circles, but he does not mind other offers as long as they bring income (in 2007 he joined GERB). The current CEO Yordan Radev has been removed, even though he followed all Gergov's instructions and implemented his scheme to take over the fair. Since the beginning of 2008, the company has been running the scheme. Gergov now owns 51% or became the majority owner of the fair. With the helpfully changed statutes he now manages the company without any consideration for the state.All the previous members who had helpfully voted for the implementation of the project have been removed from the board. A new era in the management of the fair has begun, about which much can be said in another analysis. A minor touch is that immediately the numerous security guards of the entire Gergov family - over 20 people - were appointed on the salaries of the exhibition centre. The entire operational leadership was replaced and replaced with people from the family - wife, sister, sons, nieces, etc. Finally, however, we might reflect on the government's role in this play. The easiest thing to do was for the government to give the 49% shares directly to the municipality, which as a public institution is controlled by the government. Why this complicated scenario was used - for two reasons: the first is that the responsibility is taken by a collective body - the Municipal Council, and this means irresponsibility; the second is that this is the only way to circumvent the law and the decision of the National Assembly to ban the privatisation of the fair and the ownership passes into private hands . As the people say " the wolf is full and the lamb is whole, and there are so many losers (ordinary people) that there will be no real punishment.
Very interesting at this time are the camaraderie meetings organized every year in February in the eco hotel "Zdravets" in the Rhodopes. Patrons are the host Todor Burdzhiev, the mayor Dr. Ivan Chomakov and the regional governor Todor Petkov. About 70-80 people from different parties, but united by common friendship circles and business interests, gathered. The same names you will find in the proliferating : Masonic Lodges, Rotary Clubs, Lines Clubs and similar closed societies. These are the people who have "succeeded" in different ways during the transition and define themselves as the business elite and the partocracy that wants to decide everything in the city. Once again the English maxim " There are no eternal friendships - there are eternal interests" is proved! This was proved after 2005 when Todor Petkov replaced Hadzhipetrov as regional governor. Until that moment there was a good relationship between Mayor Chomakov and the district governor. Governor there are daily conflicts, although both are from right-wing parties. During the years 2005 - 2007 there was peace and love between the right-wing Chomakov and the left-wing Petkov. An interesting fact is that at the foot of the Rhodope Mountains are the villas of all these politicians, magistrates, businessmen and they often get together as good neighbors. In 2006 Gergov had serious problems with the tax administration. Apart from the banks, the tax authorities are pressing the oligarch's companies for millions in unpaid taxes. Gergov tried to reschedule his tax debts through the NRA. The head of the NRA-Plovdiv is Menda Stoyanova member of the Communist Party, party secretary of the unit "Revenue from the national economy" in the District People's Council in Plovdiv Until 90- she survived in the NRA in all changes of governments but has now oriented to the hotel business and GERB with her friend Rosa Toteva and Stoyanovi, and Gergov appears to be competition.
The Big Enemy Ivan Geshev
After September, 2018 in a raid of the Special Prosecutor's Office was hit oligarch Vetko (Valcho) Arabadzhiev came the turn of his former brother-in-law Minyu Staykov, known as Apasha. He, unlike Arabadzhiev, has experience with arrests. This is his second, and his son's Staiko's third.
According to Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, the two actions have nothing in common. Only the money laundering and tax fraud charges are common.
There stories about Arabadzhiev and his failed 2005 arrest for VAT fraud. It was about the import of four ships of illegal alcohol from Russia, sold to the Roma boss Tsar Kiro and "turned" into the sale of alcohol at low prices. According to unofficial information, it was then about more than 600 million leva losses to the state treasury.
Who has been watching Vetko Arabadzhiev's back for so many years ?
The former driver in the Plovdiv meat factory, recruited as an informer for the State Security in 1989, worked first with Ilia Pavlov and his "Multigroup". The two bought the Plovdiv sugar factory. Later, Vetko took it for himself, they started lawsuits for ownership, but they were terminated after Pavlov's murder on March 7, 2003.
VAT
According to the prosecutor's office, more than 10 million leva in cash were found in Vetko's hotels. PHOTO.
According to people familiar with the matter, at the time Arabadzhiev entered into the Visadjis' VAT embezzlement schemes. He was under the wing of "VAI Holding" boss Georgi Iliev, who in 2001 moved his business from Kyustendil to Plovdiv and took over the Lokomotiv team.
The players of the Plovdiv Lokomotiv must sleep during the camp in Maritsa. The players complain of poor conditions, bad food and small rooms. Before one match the president Georgi Iliev decided to sleep with the players in "Maritsa", but quickly moved out because of the misery.
The other serious backer of the businessman wanted by Interpol is the red millionaire Georgi Gergov, honorary consul of the Russian Federation and regional leader of the BSP.
Gergov is a crony of Vetko Arabadzhiev, both of them are in the same Masonic lodge. No one in Plovdiv wants to work with Arabadzhiev because he is greedy and does not pay, insiders say. It is an open secret that he has taken many businessmen who have worked for him by refusing to pay them.
There have been three suicides in the Smolyan region of construction contractors involved in the building of Arabadzhiev's five-star hotel in Pamporovo. It is about the construction cooperative "Dulger", which Vetko dragged away, refusing to pay for the work done on the grounds. The owner of the cooperative cannot pay the workers and ends his life. Two other construction businessmen from Smolyan also committed suicide, driven to the ground by Arabadzhiev. They can't tell him off because his sites are guarded by VIS-2 thugs.
Gergov's Business Club - Incubator of Oligarchs
Former deputy interior minister from the Stanishev-Kamen Penkov cabinet at a party with Staykov. The same story played out during the construction of the Victoria Hotel in Sunny Beach. It turned out that the workers there were locked up as detainees on the construction site, their documents and mobile phones were taken by VIS-2 guards. They were given some food and shelter. They were not paid until they had finished the site. This is what two workers who managed to escape from the construction concentration camp told the police.
In 2004 in mysterious circumstances in an accident on the road Karnobat-Sliven both leading managers of Arabadzhiev died.
Both he and Minyu Staykov were masters of VAT skimming through alcohol and sugar. Vetko Arabadzhiev came into conflict and took over Dimitar Mishev's business and his winery in Parvenets.
Mishev was one of the first alcohol bosses at the dawn of democracy. He was found "suicided" with two bullets in the head near the Zdravets hut. Probably the wide umbrella behind Arabadzhiev kept him away from the scandals with alcohol fakes found during inspections in the supposedly elite resort "Elenite". It turns out that not his clients, who paid for all-inclusive, Vetko's people pour alcohol from bottles of questionable quality. Apart from Gergov, the hotel and alcohol boss is considered to be close to President Georgi Parvanov.
As well as his former "brother-in-law" Minyu Staykov. At the opening of his plant in Karnobat comes personally Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, Parvanov is also a frequent guest there.
In 2012, a VAT embezzlement gang was smashed in an operation by anti-mafia officers. The company in question was Sugar Industry, founded by Minyu Staykov and subsequently taken over by his son Stayko. The company was transferred first to an offshore company, then to a socially weak one.
A classic scheme for VAT embezzlement was used, as in the case of Vetko Arabadzhiev with alcohol.
Sugar is imported as an intra-Community supply from an EU country, in this case Greece. The goods are then sold only on the basis of documents to several companies, which turn out to be hollow. In reality, the sugar is sold at low prices at home. VAT is not paid at all. It is the same with alcohols, which are sold in Bulgaria at low prices, with illegally imported alcohol. According to investigators, the Staykov family have siphoned off more than 3 million euros. VAT.
The so-called "Sugar Rooster" affair broke out. During the raid, Stayko Staykov was abroad, as now. He surrenders with a lawyer. Along the affair is arrested the famous master of tax fraud and smuggling Mila Georgieva, daughter of the former head of customs Hristo Kulishev.
Minyu Staykov is a former SIC(one of 5 big criminal organisations in Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov, chair of GERB was part of it) representative for the Karnobat region. He is a sponsor of the BSP and the mayors of the municipalities in the region. He was nominated as a deputy from the red list, but refused. Today the Interior Ministry released photos of the operation against the Staykov family.
The Patron of Culture Georgi Gergov
Georgi Gergov is one of the doyens and patrons of Culture in Plovdiv, but also in Bulgaria. He is the founder of the Plovdiv Reads initiative, and in 2010 the event was the biggest literary show in Bulgaria. It was also under the patronage of President Parvanov. The main part then was the Publishing House Janet 45 from Plovdiv. The publishing house accumulated its capital in business with Russia and managed to launch a writer who in 2023 will grab the Booker Prize. Bulgarian literature in Europe as a "Spiritual Gateway" to Russia (theangel.today)
