The investigation into the attempted poisoning of arms businessman Emilian Gebrev, his son Hristo and the production director at “EMKO“ has been terminated. This was announced by Gebrev himself in an exclusive interview for “120 minutes“ on bTV.
According to him, the decree is from August 20 of this year. As a reason for the termination, Gebrev cited the fact that the accused perpetrators have not been found.
In 2020, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office filed charges in absentia against three Russian citizens - Sergey Viktorovich Pavlov, Sergey Vyacheslavovich Fedotov and Georgi Gorshkov. European arrest warrants were issued for them and they were declared internationally wanted.
„On August 20 of this year, Mrs. Madanska terminated the proven terrorist act against me, my son and my production director“, Gebrev said.
According to him, the stated motive is that the perpetrators cannot be found.
„You can imagine what this is about and what motive - it is simply ridiculous. That the perpetrators do not exist and there is no point“, the businessman commented.
He recalled that after the assassination attempt in 2015, he had counted on the Bulgarian institutions to get to the end of the investigation.
„Hope dies last. "But with this act, the supervising prosecutor is killing hope," Gebrev said.
In 2020, the prosecutor's office announced that three Russian citizens were charged with the attempted murder of Gebrev, his son Hristo, and the director of "Production Activities" at "EMKO."
According to official information at the time, the attempted murder was committed between April 28 and May 4, 2015, through intoxication with an unidentified organophosphorus substance. Investigators also found that the defendants used different identities when traveling outside of Russia.
The prosecutor's office also released footage from a security camera in an underground parking lot used by the company. According to the state prosecution, they show a masked man moving between the company's cars.
Gebrev sharply criticized the way Bulgarian institutions have worked on the case over the years.
„The prosecutor's office itself admits it. And the prosecutor's office itself says it. And then the prosecutor's office itself terminates it“, he said.
According to him, the investigating police officers have done the necessary work, but the problem is in the way the proceedings were subsequently concluded.
“What is the point of having dozens of people working, not to mention hundreds, and finally the prosecutor's office lightly terminating it?“, Gebrev asked.
The arms businessman also talked about the moment when his life was in danger in 2015. According to him, the doctors managed to save him thanks to their professional experience, although at the time they did not know exactly what substance led to the poisoning.
“These are certainly doctors based on their experience. "Without them knowing de facto what the assassination attempt was carried out with and without having the corresponding antidote," he said.
In 2020, the prosecutor's office indicated that the diagnosis of the three victims can generally be defined as acute intoxication with organophosphorus compounds.
The poisoning case is part of a series of serious incidents surrounding Gebrev's arms business over the past 15 years.
In November 2011, an explosion destroyed thousands of ammunition in an "EMKO" warehouse near the Sevlievo village of Lovnidol. Years later, this case was included in a general investigation along with other explosions at military sites.
In the spring of 2015, there were two explosions at the VMZ-Sopot near Iganovo, and just weeks later, Gebrev, his son and the director of the enterprise were poisoned.
This was followed by incidents at the “EMKO“ base near Karnobat in 2022 and 2023, and in 2026 - a fire and explosions at the company's plant near Belitsa and a fire and explosion at a warehouse near Gorni Vrpishta. In the last two cases, there were no victims, and the causes are being investigated.
According to Gebrev, the company's internal analysis of the last two incidents rules out human error.
“The conclusion is clear and accurate. It was said – "it is not human error," he said.
The businessman stressed, however, that establishing the specific cause is the job of the prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Interior, the National Agency for National Security and National Defense and other competent institutions. Gebrev also raised the question of whether the individual incidents over the past 15 years have been examined comprehensively enough by the Bulgarian authorities.
According to him, without clarifying the reasons and possible dependencies behind such actions, the risk of their repetition remains.