A day after the raid by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office at the office of a company for the production and trade of arms, there are no reports of detainees or defendants. It remains unknown what exactly the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine requested in its request for legal assistance, Nova TV reports.
On Monday, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office announced that the raid was following a request from Kiev in connection with an investigation into corruption crimes in Ukraine. They were related to arms deals at inflated prices. The information did not surprise the local media.
„We know that the arms business cannot simply go unchecked by state authorities. That is, we understand that somewhere both yours and the Bulgarian services have failed, which is terrible”, commented journalist Tetyana Staneva.
According to investigators in our country, raids and searches have taken place in several areas of the country. A report shows that the company does not have any commercial premises, and uses warehouses of enterprises from the military-industrial complex for storage. Experts remind that the export of weapons is among the most profitable businesses. According to data from the Center for the Study of Democracy in our country, it brings in over 2 billion leva in revenue annually.
„Bulgaria has established itself as one of the main exporters of ammunition to Europe. It is also the main supplier to Ukraine. So this is in a way a blow to this sector”, said Atanas Rusev, director of the “Security” program, Center for the Study of Democracy.
“You need something, it is critically important to you, there is a war going on, and naturally everyone on the market offers and uses the moment to extract maximum profit”, commented expert Assoc. Prof. Milen Ivanov.
According to him, it is unclear why the National Security Agency did not participate in the action.
”There is a possibility, albeit small, that the Ukrainian state is exporting the corruption problem outside its country”, said Assoc. Prof. Ivanov.
The company whose offices were searched has been on Moscow's sanctions list for several years. And circumventing the ban on trade with Russia has long been a topic of debate in parliament.
“The prosecutor's office has enough tools, it has its crimes - illegal trade and goods with possible dual use, outside the established order”, said Assoc. Prof. Milen Ivanov.