Second Bulgarian Politician Exposed in Pandora Papers Denies Claims

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov with observers in the West Bank city of Hebron, November 4, 2015. Photo; EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

Mladenov denied the allegations, saying he founded the firm to develop a consultancy practice that never operated because of his involvement in the UN. 

Mladenov registered the firm Afron Enterprises Ltd in Seychelles through the Swiss agency SFM Corporate Services S.A, on August 9, 2013, seven days after being appointed a Special UN representative. Afron was closed in 2018.

"This firm was never active and no money transactions have been made through it," Mladenov told bird.bg. He confirmed having contacted Swiss agents for the process and insisted that, despite the listed dates, the firm was started before the start of his tenure at the UN.

"The registration of the firm which appears under my name has never been active and never operated financial transactions," he said.

"In 2013, after the end of the (my) mandate (as Foreign Minister), I wanted to start freelancing, start fresh. I decided to register a firm, through which I would work. I contacted Swiss financial consultants and started a correspondence. Then, I was given the offer from the UN and my plans changed," Mladenov added.

The UN has said it has no record of Mladenov declaring such business activities. 

This follows reports that the document leak names the Bulgarian oligarch Delyan Peevski, who was questioned before the National Revenue Agency on October 6. 

Mladenov was born in 1972 in Sofia to a family close to the communist regime. His father, Evtim Mladenov, was part of the repressive state security apparatus and his uncle, Mladen, was a communist-era ambassador.

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