The "Magnitsky" sanctions against Peevski seem to exist in two different realities. In one, he is sanctioned for significant corruption by the US and the UK. In the other, the Bulgarian one, he is still untouchable.
Can Delyan Peevski, sanctioned for significant corruption by the US and the UK, turn out to be a problem for American justice without being a problem for Bulgarian justice?
The question is provocative. But such is the admission of Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev. According to him, the information provided during his visit to the US, a key part of which are Peevski's flights, may give grounds for the US authorities to launch a federal investigation against individuals sanctioned under the "Magnitsky" law who are trying to circumvent the restrictive measures, as well as against their helpers.
Demerdzhiev expressed this assumption after a meeting with representatives of the Department of Justice. "We provide the information and evidence, and the US authorities will decide whether there are grounds for an investigation," the Minister of Internal Affairs said.
The two realities
The US sanctions under the global "Magnitsky" law against Peevski seem to exist in two different realities. In one, he is sanctioned for significant corruption by the US and the UK. In the other, he is the leader of the parliamentary party DPS and a factor in Bulgarian politics.
Demerdzhiev's statement about data related to possible circumvention of sanctions again intersects these two realities - as in 2021, when Washington imposed restrictive measures. Then the Bulgarian prosecutor's office requested from the US Department of Justice the information on which the sanctions against Peevski and other sanctioned Bulgarian citizens and their related companies were based. Five years ago, the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance published the names of 98 companies registered in Bulgaria and abroad, as well as in offshore zones, that were included in the restrictive list. But this list was short-lived.
There was no response from the US authorities. And the Bulgarian prosecutor's office checked Delyan Peevski and Ilko Zhelyazkov in 2021-2022 and determined that there was no data on the crimes described by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Previously, the National Revenue Agency established the same.
Who are the accomplices?
In the fifth year since the sanctions were imposed, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office has not changed its conclusion that there are no grounds for criminal prosecution of Peevski. The new element in the case comes from the statements of the Minister of the Interior before his visit to Washington.
According to him, some of Peevski's flights, information about which was released in early July, were paid for by a law firm, and among the passengers was a lawyer representing him. Peevski himself stated that the flights were paid for by him and his family.
However, the sanctions under "Magnitsky" are not limited to the sanctioned individuals themselves, nor to the companies and citizens associated with them. The American authorities are also monitoring attempts to circumvent the restrictions through third parties, intermediaries or companies that support such actions - the front persons, as they are known in Bulgaria. The Minister of Internal Affairs also draws attention to this hypothesis when he talks about possible helpers.
Demerdzhiev explained to Nova TV that this is an "impressive number of people and companies that help sanctioned individuals evade restrictions by paying their expenses, acquiring property in their name, or concealing the real ownership of assets".
If such data is confirmed, only American institutions will assess whether it represents an attempt to circumvent the sanctions regime and whether it is grounds for initiating an investigation.
If the security services and the prosecutor's office in Bulgaria were actively investigating, the life of those sanctioned under "Magnitsky" should be increasingly difficult. The reason is that the sanctions regimes are not limited to freezing assets, but also involve checking the people and companies that assist in their circumvention.
Five years after the imposition of the sanctions, Delyan Peevski has not only not been brought to criminal responsibility, but has also become the leader of a parliamentary party and has publicly influenced political processes.
This contrasts with the assessment of OFAC, which, when announcing the sanctions, defined them as the "most extensive single action" against corruption under the global "Magnitsky" Act. But in 2026, no one is asking what the Bulgarian institutions will do, but how the American ones will evaluate the information.
The topic of implementing sanctions under the "Magnitsky" Act was practically absent from the Bulgarian agenda, including in the official cabinets appointed by President Rumen Radev. Only now, as Prime Minister, Radev is publicly raising the question not just about Delyan Peevski's flights, but about whether the sanctions were even taken into account by the Bulgarian state.
"The information about Peevski's flights resonates badly internationally. In Bulgaria, there was no consideration of the sanctions under the "Magnitsky" Act against Peevski. There was no attempt to implement them," Radev said a few days ago in Paris. According to him, the question is who and how paid for the flights, and he assured that his government would bring "all this to light".
Meanwhile, the ruling majority rejected the proposal of "Democratic Bulgaria" for a temporary commission to investigate Peevski's income, assets and possible unregulated influence. The State Security Service also introduced amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which oblige institutions to conduct "comprehensive checks, ongoing and expanded monitoring of sanctioned persons and persons associated with them", and to provide the results to the "Financial Intelligence" Directorate at the State Security Service.
How the US pursues sanctions evasion
The practice of the US Department of Justice shows that in cases of suspicion of sanctions evasion, the investigation may cover not only the sanctioned person, but also the people who may have assisted him.
The most famous example is the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The billionaire was sanctioned in 2018 not under the "Magnitsky" law, but together with 37 other Russian individuals and entities for "Russia's attacks on Western democracies". The list included, in addition to oligarchs close to the Kremlin, high-ranking officials and managers of state-owned concerns.
In September 2022, the federal prosecutor's office in New York accused Deripaska of conspiring to violate and circumvent US sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He and his intermediaries were later accused of using the US financial system, companies and front persons to maintain luxury properties and receive services despite the sanctions. In 2020, Deripaska organized a trip for his girlfriend to Los Angeles to give birth to their first child there with the aim of obtaining US citizenship. In 2022, she again attempted to enter the US to give birth to their second child, but the authorities stopped her at the border.
If the US authorities conclude that sanctions were circumvented in the Delyan Peevski case, the case will enter a completely different phase. So far, Bulgaria has allowed itself to ignore "Magnitsky". However, a federal investigation in the US could hardly be ignored with the same ease. Then, for the first time, Peevski's political untouchability will be put to a real test.
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This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the DG as a whole.