Euractiv: Bulgaria Police Raids EU Presidency Hotel in Sofia

Police uncovered on Friday (31 August) over 10 million leva (€5 million) in cash from hotels owned by a rich businessman in Sofia and in Bulgaria's second largest city, Plovdiv. A prosecutor reportedly said he had never seen anything of the kind in his whole career.

The first of the buildings searched was Marinela, the flagship hotel of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Its owner is Vetko Arabadjiev (born Valcho Arabadjiev), a rich businessman and owner of a touristic empire with more than 15,000 beds, known as the Victoria Group.

Marinela has shocked many of its EU guests by the presence of scarcely dressed young women. A Bulgarian website has reported that the wife of an EU official was so disturbed by the sight of these women in Sofia that the couple were transferred to the more upmarket Hilton Hotel.

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