Over 3.7 million euros is the salary expenditure of the unit to support the Minister of Interior, which Ivan Demerdzhiev ordered to be closed because it is a "parasitic" structure. This is clear from the answers of the Ministry of Interior to "Sega", given under the Access to Public Information Act. The unit was created with a staff of 6, and at the time of its closure by Demerdzhiev's order of July 3, the number of its employees was 46, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also informed.
In early July, Demerdzhiev announced that he had issued an order to disband the unit within a month. The structure in question is called the "isolator" in the ministry and a variety of people have been housed there over the years. The minister added that the unit employs Ministry of Internal Affairs employees who have lost the trust of the leadership. They are not given responsible tasks and the results of their work are little known, he added.
However, the remuneration of the former senior employees in the unit is extremely high. He added that each of them will be directed to where they will be useful. "One by one, the employees were assessed and they will be offered a position", said Demerdzhiev and promised that other similar "parasitic" structures would be identified in a short time.
The minister's statements provoked questions from "Sega" about the motives for creating the unit, how many employees were appointed to it, what is the total amount of salaries and other remuneration paid to employees from the unit in question, as well as whether there are employees of retirement age in it.
The Ministry of Interior answered some questions. But they refused to indicate the names and positions of the employees appointed to the unit, because this was personal data. It is also not clear whether there were employees in the unit who had reached retirement age - the right to a pension is subjective and employees are not obliged to inform their employer if they exercise it.
The answers also make it clear how exactly the employees of the unit assisted the ministers of the interior and what exactly they did. The Ministry of Interior explains that employees with extensive professional experience were appointed there. The tasks were set for them by the leadership of the Ministry of Interior in order to use their expert potential, the official response also states, which de facto contradicts what Demerdzhiev said. At least on paper, the purpose of the unit was to assist the leadership of the Ministry of Interior in the department's main activities, as well as in writing projects, regulations, ordinances, and instructions.
As for salaries and other remuneration, from the creation of the unit by Boyko Rashkov in May 2021 to Demerdzhiev's order to disband it, 7,365,724 leva were spent on salaries and other remuneration, which is just under 3.766 million euros. The most expensive was the maintenance in 2025 - 2.133 million leva. However, if the structure had been preserved, 2026 would have stolen the record, since over 903 thousand euros were given for the first half of the year alone. A significant portion of these funds are for compensation.
The unit recently came under the spotlight when, during a hearing of the acting Minister of the Interior Emil Dechev in the National Assembly, it was revealed that people connected to the "Petrohan" case were sent to the unit - Senior Commissioner Plamen Tomov, Director of the ODMVR-Montana, Senior Commissioner Tihomir Tsenov, Director of the ODMVR-Sofia Region, Chief Commissioner Boyan Raev, Director of the General Directorate of the National Police and Chief Commissioner Zahari Vaskov, Director of the General Directorate of the National Police. Dechev then pointed out that they were not direct participants in the investigation into the "Petrohan" case, and made it clear that they were not fired, not removed, but temporarily reassigned to the unit to assist the Minister of Interior.
Stefcho Bankov, whom Boyko Rashkov fired as head of "Internal Security" at the Ministry of Interior, and while he was Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev sheltered as an assistant prosecutor, was also put in the unit in question when, after winning a case, he was reinstated at the Ministry of Interior.
Vasil Kostadinov, former head of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior in Plovdiv, who was disciplinary dismissed during the time of Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov, himself said that he was in the "isolator" for a month and a half. He condemned the Ministry of Interior to be reinstated in his post, and his lawyer was the current Minister Demerdzhiev.