The summer political season in Bulgaria was blown up by a new episode in the long-running saga between gambling boss Vasil Bozhkov and GERB leader Boyko Borisov.
The reason is an official procedural document of US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), filed on July 31, 2026 in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.
In it, the US administration for the first time names former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov by name as an alleged recipient of bribes from Bozhkov to favor his gambling business. The document is part of OFAC's defense in the case in which Bozhkov challenges the sanctions imposed on him in 2021 under the global law „Magnitsky“.
„Absolute lie“: Boyko Borisov and GERB's reaction
The GERB leader reacted sharply to the revelations during a party event in Primorsko. Borisov categorically rejected the allegations, defining them as „absolute lies“.
„I do not comment on parts of the document. I have commented on Bozhkov's lies hundreds of times... I have sworn on my grandchildren about everything I have said on this topic“, Boyko Borisov told journalists, quoted by the news broadcasts of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR News - bnrnews.bg).
A little later from the press center of PP GERB came out with an official party position on social networks, which states:
„We strongly condemn yet another attempt at pre-election manipulation and waving parts of procedural documents out of their context. This is a defensive thesis of the US administration in a case filed by a sanctioned person, and not a court decision or new sanctions. GERB will not allow August to become a field for a cheap discrediting war by our political opponents.“
Vasil's defensive Bozhkov in the USA
For his part, businessman Vasil Bozhkov, who is trying to clear his name and be removed from the “Magnitsky“ sanctions list, maintains the thesis that the payments to government officials were not voluntary acts of corruption. According to his defense, the amounts were transferred in the form of blackmail and strong pressure from the then rulers in the person of Borisov and former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov (who was already sanctioned under “Magnitsky“ in 2023). According to data from the investigative portal Bird.bg (bird.bg), Bozhkov's defense has provided over 25,000 pages of materials to the US authorities.
The political response: “Democratic Bulgaria“ refers the US, DANS and the Prosecutor's Office
The case caused an immediate wave of reactions among other political forces. The coalition „Democratic Bulgaria“ (DB) took an institutional step by sending an official inquiry directly to OFAC in the US, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA - bta.bg) announced.
The co-chairman of „Yes, Bulgaria“ Ivaylo Mirchev came out with a sharp position in his personal profile:
„The oaths in the grandchildren are not an institutional response to an official document from the US. Today we sent an official inquiry to OFAC with three clear questions about the role of Boyko Borisov in Vasil Bozhkov's corruption schemes. We have notified the Prosecutor's Office and the State Agency for National Security and Defense, because Bulgarian citizens have the right to know why Vladislav Goranov was sanctioned, while his direct superior remains off the lists. The time for political sweeping under the carpet is over. It is the institutions' turn to do their job.“
In their letter to Washington, the State Department insists on finding out whether OFAC considers it proven in substance that Bozhkov bribed Borisov and why no public measures have been imposed against the former prime minister, comparable to those against Vladislav Goranov, reports Novini SEGA (segabg.com). The opposition insists that the acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova request the full administrative file from the US Department of Justice, after the Bulgarian investigation was terminated in December 2023.
Experts from the judicial system: The document has enormous legal weight
The legal world in our country also reacted quickly to the news from Washington. According to leading lawyers and experts in international law and cases related to the “Magnitsky“ sanctions, the situation is a precedent for our country:
“The document submitted by OFAC to Washington is not a verdict, but it has enormous legal weight. For the first time, an American state institution officially and by name names a Bulgarian ex-prime minister as a recipient of bribes. The termination of the Bulgarian investigation by the prosecutor's office in 2023 already seems to be in complete contradiction with the data available to our partners in the US. The signals of the State Security Service to Acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova are a logical move – If the state prosecution refuses to resume the investigation under these new circumstances, it will be a clear sign of a lack of justice.“
What's next?
Although the document does not have the force of a final court decision, the official naming of Boyko Borisov by a US government institution places the GERB leader in a delicate international and domestic political situation. The topic will inevitably redraw the red lines in the Bulgarian parliament on the eve of the upcoming autumn political season.