Author: Alexander Detev
In your new investigation for "Off Air", entitled "Corruption, racketeering and who uses the state for personal purposes?", you told the story of Plovdiv entrepreneur Velko Endrev and his company "NVG Careers". Endrev complains that the MP from the DPS Dzhevdet Chakarov, together with his son Sami, have controlled his business. What is this about?
Ralitsa Galabova: At the end of 2024, a signal appears to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). It describes events over a fairly long period of time, but the pre-trial proceedings are being conducted for a crime committed in 2020. At that time, the Endrevi brothers claim that under pressure they transferred half of their business to Chakarov's son and his agents.
However, the whole story begins back in 2009, when Endrevi applied for a marble mining concession near the Asenovgrad village of Muldava. His story includes data on inspections by institutions, which he claims were initiated by the Chakarovs. The investigators' documents confirm that they agreed with this conclusion, as they claim that there is "a trusting relationship built between Dzhevdet Chakarov and the mayor of Asenovgrad Municipality", where the concession is being implemented.
The investigation goes beyond the topic of the specific case and the possible influence peddling of Dzhevdet Chakarov. What conclusions did you draw from the investigation?
Ralitsa Galabova: A key topic in the investigation is how the agents from the Anti-Corruption Commission behaved when they received the signal, and how it then developed when it was transferred to the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office. Dzhevdet Chakarov is not in focus for me, because other politicians were, and probably still are, in this position, including from other political parties.
The role of the institutions and the question of whether they were used to serve personal and political interests hangs in the balance. I was impressed that in the initial phase the investigation was extremely active and many actions were taken in a short period of time. We have no idea how it developed, but it is key that we learned that about a month ago the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office made an attempt to terminate this investigation. However, the Sofia City Court does not agree with the findings in the termination. Judge Daniela Taleva's ruling clearly shows what the gaps are according to the court - data in witness statements that confirm the specific accusations, but also other businesses in which crimes by the same people can be sought.
Another aspect is also important - I did not receive an answer to the question of why, after half of the business was transferred in 2020 and the other half in 2022 to Georgi Samuilov, it was only in 2024 that Endrev filed a report with the CPC.
You have spoken to him, although he refuses to stand in front of the camera. Did he give any explanation as to why he waited so long?
Ralitsa Galabova: I have repeatedly asked him this question - both to him and to his wife Snezhana Brzkova, with whom I also spoke. They claim that they were very worried, and at that moment they felt calm enough to turn to the institutions. How they decided to go to the CPC, and not the police or the prosecutor's office, I did not understand. I asked Brzkova directly whether they were motivated in any way to file a report, she denied it.
It is good to put this report in a time context. In what period of the development of the MRF and the political career of Dzhevdet Chakarov does this report appear?
Ralitsa Galabova: At a very curious moment in his long political career - of a person who has been an MP without interruption since 1996, except when he was a minister. We all remember the upheavals in the MRF in 2024, when he was co-chair of the party. Chakarov's role was key, because he formally held the tools for control over the party. He also represented the MRF during the lawsuits over the rights to the brand. That's when the Endrevi family raised the alarm.
A few months after the split in the DPS, which occurred in the summer of 2024.
Ralitsa Galabova: That's right. It happened in the summer, and in the fall a campaign of exchanging accusations began on both sides - the one around Dogan and the one around Peevski. Chakarov even admitted in his interviews that accepting Peevski into the party was a mistake. In the spring of 2025, however, he suddenly became speechless. Through a photo in which he shakes hands with Delyan Peevski, we learned that he was moving to "New Beginnings", which also rendered meaningless the legal battles for the DPS brand. Chakarov hasn't spoken since then. I tried to talk to him during the investigation, but he didn't even greet me.
Thanks to the media, and more specifically to a publication by "Capital", which appeared shortly before the photo in question, we learned that Chakarov's son has problems with law enforcement. This is not typical for politicians from this party and their relatives.
We continue with the context: after Chakarov returned to Peevski, are there any signals that the institutions are continuing with the actions against him and his son?
Ralitsa Galabova: The institutions have never commented on the topic, his immunity has never been requested. We would have no way of finding out about these events if documents had not been leaked from the Corruption Investigation Commission after it was closed. However, the media implied that Chakarov made the decision to return to Peevski under duress. Former Minister of Interior Kalin Stoyanov told reporters in parliament that he expected this to happen. I believe that Stoyanov has sufficient operational information.
Before that, people close to Peevski - such as Stanislav Anastasov - publicly stated that Dzhevdet Chakarov had dubious business interests and undertakings.
Ralitsa Galabova: Anastasov made some accusations then, but never followed them up. The following manner was observed during this period - accusations are made in a veiled manner, so that the person making them does not bear responsibility, but the clear feeling remains that the object of the accusations is highly dependent. In this specific case, Anastasov spoke of numerous companies in which Sami Chakarov is involved. The CPC itself connects him with over 40 companies. Apparently, his party colleagues were aware of this. The former deputy chairman of the MRF, Guner Tahir, told me that since then Chakarov has been isolated in the party.
You meet with one of Sami Chakarov's partners - Ivan Vasev, who also tells interesting things about the participation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Nikolay.
Ralitsa Galabova: The Bulgarian Orthodox Church owns most of the territory of the concession area. The Ministry of Energy authorizes this concession, which "NVG Karieri" has defended, but the Plovdiv Metropolis must grant permission. According to Velko Endrev's signal, the abbess of the nearby monastery "St. Petka Muldavska" blocked him in court. From the conversations recorded with special intelligence means, we understand that Ivan Vasev and Velko Endrev comment on the relationship with Metropolitan Nikolay and the connections that businessman Georgi Gergov has. Without having any evidence of wrongdoing, this dynamic also raises questions about the relationships between businessmen, politicians and church representatives on a local level.
Vassev himself was otherwise very open in his conversation with us. He claims that his relationship with Dzhevdet Chakarov is based solely on respect, and his relationship with his son is purely professional and has nothing to do with it. Vasev also says that there was no pressure on the Endrevi, and they were in a bad position and asked him to help them.
This is a complicated case, but if you had to summarize it in two sentences, what would they be?
Ralitsa Galabova: This is a story about people who are placed in very strong positions, and subsequently in very weak ones. People who are kept dependent. Dzhevdet Chakarov had power and influence for many years, but at one point in his political career he was put in a difficult position.
At the same time, this story shows us how institutions function - the local government, the legislative branch through the influence of an MP, as well as the investigative institutions are involved. I believe that the prosecutor's office should explain why it initiated this investigation and why it terminated it.
Do you think that the major television stations will show interest in this case?
Ralitsa Galabova: I hope so. We see colleagues asking their questions - most recently in the morning block of Nova Television, precisely to Stanislav Anastasov from the MRF. Hopefully they will also show interest in these stories, they can be further developed and this will benefit the entire society. In these documents that we have, there are allegations of many more crimes than this isolated case related to "NVG Careers".