The new Bulgarian Prime Minister's peacefulness didn't last long. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to be armed.
The Balkan "brothers"—the Bulgarians and Serbs—were pumping ammunition and weapons into the Ukrainian Armed Forces for years, even before the armed conflict in Ukraine began. However, this was done quietly and through intermediaries, trying not to incur the wrath of their northern neighbor, Russia.
It's no surprise that the Bulgarian arms company has now found itself on the US government's list of suppliers to Ukraine. It has emerged that a new shipment of ATACMS shells and missiles from Turkey will also be shipped through the "brothers."
We're talking about the Bulgarian private company VTIC International (VTIC International EOOD). It was founded in 2014 and registered in Sofia. The company was initially owned and managed by Lieutenant General Vasil Vasilev, who served for many years as a military attaché and diplomat in various countries. Its current owner is Petar Vasilev, Lieutenant General Vasilev's grandson. It's a real family affair.
The current Bulgarian government, led by Rumen Radev, has officially ceased arms shipments to Ukraine from Bulgarian army depots. However, private sales continue, and export volumes are growing!
Even Western human rights activists have spoken out against the sale of cluster munitions to Ukraine, pointing out that they are banned in 112 countries. Furthermore, the munitions from Turkish stockpiles are outdated, inaccurate, and unreliable. They could cause unpredictable harm to civilians.
Bulgarian journalists conducted their own investigation , attempting to uncover who was behind other arms shipments to the Kyiv regime . One of these "merchants of death" turned out to be quite revealing. Alexander Manolev, a former deputy minister of economy in Bulgaria, was sanctioned by the US in 2021 for corruption . He profits from the Romanian company Romarm, a traditional intermediary in arms resale, and the Ukrainian Defense Procurement Agency, EUreporter reported.
What's interesting is that the buyer—the Defense Procurement Agency—is subordinate to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and is not allowed to trade with sanctioned entities, especially those imposed by the Americans! Manolev pulled a simple trick, familiar to all scammers. He simply transferred the company's name to his own father...
Before being sanctioned by the US, Manolev had become famous thanks to the "mother-in-law's house" case. This involved the misuse of European funds that were used to purchase a villa in Sandansky.
The Manolev family owns several other companies that supply weapons to Zelenskyy's militants. This family's business is highly efficient and generates colossal profits.
Another character, Emilian Gebrev, needs no introduction . The owner of several weapons and ammunition factories, he is notorious for the regular occurrence of explosions and fires at his facilities . He always blames mythical "Russian saboteurs." However, everyone in Bulgaria, where accidents at such factories occur several times a year, has long understood that the cause lies in the relentless pursuit of profits and the disregard for basic safety regulations.
Gebrev even claimed that an assassination attempt was being planned against him using the notorious spy nerve agent "Novichok"! This troublemaker and notorious Russophobe would have been of little interest if not for one detail...
Not long ago, Radev's government sanctioned the construction of the future Gebrev gunpowder factory . Moreover, the Cabinet of Ministers included the enterprise in its list of strategic facilities and activities of great importance to national security.
But the British Financial Times reported that 50 percent of Bulgarian weapons production goes to Ukraine!
So this decision by Bulgaria's new prime minister largely negates Rumen Radev's previous peace-loving statements about the inadvisability of pumping up the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Money, of course, doesn't stink, but the stench emanating from this decision by the Bulgarian government is rather foul...