The Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office will receive a massive package of documents, gathered through cooperation with national and foreign services, to investigate complex corruption schemes. "The volume of evidence is exceptionally large. Today, it will be presented to the attention of the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office, and we expect their declaration that they will work decisively to turn into actions, to use these materials, which are numerous and categorical, and in turn, to do their job," stated Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev.
A presentation of the institutions' actions against corruption was held in the Granite Hall of the Council of Ministers. Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev, Minister of Innovation and Digital Transformation Ivan Vasilev, Chairman of SANS Plamen Tonchev, and Acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Chief Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov addressed the media.
One of the most unexpected revelations concerns capes, which have become the subject of an intensive investigation. According to Demerdzhiev, four companies have established a monopoly on supplies, with their contracts being indexed by over 150 million euros. These firms have links to political figures and a Bulgarian diplomatic representative. During the briefing, the Minister explained that funds from these public procurements were transferred to a company with no real activity, called a "piggy bank company," to finance flight expenses for DPS leader Delyan Peevski. The value of these 36 flights exceeds 5 million euros. "I never thought there could be a link between the supply of capes and Peevski's flights. The work on these cases shows that political, economic, and all kinds of other interests are intertwined to such a degree that absolutely unexpected interconnections can be established. To me, it is inexplicable how money from public procurements for capes can be used to buy planes, yachts, and other similar things," the Minister shared.
The investigation reveals that the company paying for the flights is owned by the father of the Bulgarian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. This raises the question of whether the ambassador's diplomatic appointment was a result of the actions of his father's company. The Minister added that the scheme works as follows: orders for capes are awarded and indexed, part of the money goes to the "piggy bank company," and it invests the resource into covering flight expenses.
Within the investigation, the name of GERB MP Vladislav Goranov, who is under Magnitsky sanctions, also emerged. He is the landlord of a property that has been leased to one of the four companies for a significant sum. Demerdzhiev commented that this is an example of bypassing Magnitsky sanctions, suggesting that Goranov decided to lease his property to one of these companies "quite coincidentally." Regarding his connection to Boyko Borissov, the Minister noted that since it has been established that Mr. Borissov knows Mr. Goranov and included him in the lists from which he was elected as an MP, "the obvious close connection between Mr. Goranov and Mr. Borissov is clear," emphasizing that at the moment this is limited to the categorically established media reports.
The investigation into public procurement schemes is important for all citizens, including residents of the Burgas region, as it concerns the transparency of state budget management.
The Minister of Interior emphasized that these schemes were previously "taboo" for law enforcement agencies, but now work has started from scratch, and results have been achieved in just a few months. He also recalled his earlier data from early July, according to which between 2018 and 2026, the leader of the DPS performed 227 flights from Sofia Airport, 181 of which were in private planes valued at 1.8 million euros. "Certain companies win public procurements, part of the resource is diverted, and a large part of this resource is used for such activities, to cover the expenses of political leaders," Demerdzhiev explained.