Flight Data: Controversial Bulgarian MP Spends Workdays in Dubai Mind the horns!

Delyan Peevski, the richest and quite controversial Bulgarian lawmaker, spends most of his working time in Dubai, according to flight data for the last three years to which Bivol has obtained access. The number of trips and the time the MP spends outside the country raise doubts as to whether Peevski actually lives in Bulgaria in the sense of the Electoral Law and whether he has the right to run for MEP in the European Parliament (EP) elections. Today, May 7, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) is scheduled to hear a complaint filed by the Civil Association BOETZ (Fighter) to establish these facts.

Owner of two passports

The individual Delyan Slavchev Peevski (PEEVSKI DELYAN SLAVCHEV) born on July 27, 1980, is listed with two passports in the flight manifests of the Emirates Airlines. Their numbers are 382843774 and 383862880. Ordinary Bulgarian citizens have one passport but in the capacity of a lawmaker, he is also entitled to a diplomatic passport.

Peevski often registers for the same flight with both passports. Another interesting practice is to book flights on the same day to different airports or flights on several consecutive days, while it is not clear which flight has been used and whether it had been used at all.

Peevski flies mostly through Vienna, less often through Milan. There are also flights through Zurich and London.
It is noteworthy that in 2018, Peevski has no return flights from Dubai with the Emirates Airline, but it is possible that he has used another company for an even bigger conspiracy.
It is clear, however, that Peevski is flying mostly on the workdays of the National Assembly (Parliament), where he never appears. Nevertheless, his absences seem to have a good reason as he receives his salary. So far, there is no answer as to why traveling to Dubai is a good reason.

Borisov: “Peevski is gone”; CEC: “Peevski is here”

On April 18, 2016, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said during an appearance on BTV: “Peevski is gone; Peevski has left the country.” In reality, however, he remains a lawmaker in Parliament, where he never appears. At the same time, guards from the National Security Service (NSS) are assigned to protect him.

Over the past six months, as a member of the 44th National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, Peevski has not attended any plenary session of Parliament, BOETZ stress in their complaint. The Association wants the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to carry out an official inspection of how much time Peevski has spent in the country by requesting information from the Ministry of the Interior and the NSS.

“If it turns out that Peevski has not lived in Bulgaria in the last six months or in a Member State of the European Union, as is the legal requirement, his registration as a candidate for a MEP on the ballot of the party mostly representing the Muslim minority – Movement for Rights and Freedoms, (DPS) should be deleted,” BOETZ insist.

The CEC reacted immediately, but not by law as it responded to BOETZ with a letter stating that everything was fine with Peevski’s candidacy because he had an address registration in the country.

However, the address registration does not prevent him from actually not living in the country most of the year and violating the residency requirements. This is why BOETZ have also filed a complaint with the SAC, asking the CEC to check whether the candidate Peevski, second on the DPS ballot, is eligible to run for MEP.

Formally, a crosscheck by the Border Police, supplemented by a check of the flight manifests of flights used by Peevski, may give an answer to this question, but the CEC’s letter shows its reluctance to carry it out.

Business Empire in Dubai

In a series of investigations into the hidden business of Delyan Peevski, who also had a short stint as Head of the National Security Agency (DANS), Bivol revealed that he directly or indirectly controls assets for over BGN 1.5 billion. The business is formally registered to companies in an offshore zone in Dubai – the company TGI Middle East (FZE), which is now renamed TI.

These include Bulgartabac, Yuri Gagarin, Express Logistics and Distribution (ELD), Tabac Market (the “Lafka” kiosks), Lacrima (dairy products), Doreco Commerce (printing industry materials) and the IT company BG Business Solutions. Together their assets are valued at USD 450 million. One can add to this amount USD 300 million in real estate, which “diversifies investments and risks to development,” says a TGI Middle East (FZE) presentation, forgotten on the company’s website that Bivol analyzed two years ago. In turn, these assets should be added to the ones of Technomarket, which was sold to TGI Middle East (FZE).

The owner of TGI Middle East (FZE) is the company Prest Trade, also registered in Dubai, while its owner is a natural person “not doing business”. The Committee for Combatting Corruption and the withdrawal of illegally acquired property (KPKONPI) (sic) is aware of this but refused to disclose it in its decision from June 26, 2014.
Currently, Peevski’s declared property is for significantly smaller sums, but he is still the richest MP and politician and his business career is stunning. Only a few years ago, he officially declared an old Opel automobile, but in two years, his wealth swelled to BGN tens of millions by transfers of companies from his mother Irena Krasteva and cashing up dividends. According to the KPKONPI, all this is quite legal. After probing Peevski, it found that his income and declarations were perfectly correct.

One of the reasons why the assets that are actually under Peevski’s control cannot be detected is that they are registered to trusted people. As Bivol revealed, based on the “Panama Papers”, a significant part of the business associated with the MP had been designed by attorney Sasho Angelov, son of the former agent and collaborator of the Communist regime’s special services – the State Security (DS) Paraskev Paraskevov. The latter represents the law firm that is defending Peevski in the United States against the accusations of his former business partner Tsvetan Vassilev, filed under the Magnitsky Act. According to the former banker, much of Peevski’s wealth actually comes from the bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) in which Vassilev was the majority shareholder and the subsequent plundering of its assets. However, the indictment of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, investigating the case CCB, does not even mention Peevski’s name.

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