Vassilev Condemns Bulgaria Move to Buy Arms Producer

Exiled Bulgarian banker Tsvetan Vassilev, whose extradition from Serbia is sought by the authorities in Sofia, told BIRN that moves to nationalize the arms firm Dunarit - which has been linked to his former business empire - would be a crime.

He said it was being done with the help of the Bulgarian government and state prosecution as a favour for his powerful former business partner, the MP and businessman Delyan Peevski.

Vassilev added that the arms firm, which risked losing its export license due to an ongoing prosecution probe, had recorded annual sales of more than 50 million euros and annual profits of around 15 million euros, and so did not need state aid and control.

The Dunarit case was one of "organized crime with the participation of civil servants", Vassilev maintained.

BIRN contacted the General Prosecutor's office about the accusations but received no reply by time of publication.

Dunarit's management has meanwhile not given up the fight to keep control of the arms factory.

It covered parts of its debts last Wednesday, thereby undermining the state's case for nationalizing the plant.

Vassilev was indicted in July 2017, accused of leading an organized criminal group that had embezzled or appropriated around 1.4 billion euros from the assets his Corporate Commercial Bank, or CCB, which collapsed in 2014.

Since the bank collapsed, he has lived in exile in Belgrade, Serbia, with his family who are also wanted in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian prosecution says he plundered the bank by using its assets to finance related companies.

The issue of who owns Dunarit continues. An analysis by the bankruptcy trustees of CCB, published in February, said an offshore company that Vassilev owned, EFV International...