Petyo Petrov “The Euro” Had Key Role in Investigating Delyan Peevski

Former prosecutor turned fugitive Petyo Petrov, known as “The Euro”, appears to have had a key role in two cases concerning Delyan Peevski, a politician from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms Party (MRF), sanctioned under the US Global Magnitski Act and the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime.

In the 2000s, Peevski was supposed to be investigated when he was fired as deputy minister on suspicions of corruption. The second case involves his alleged links with the bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB).

On Friday, Nikolay Staykov, co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF), published on his personal social media page documents which show that, back in 2014, the public prosecution had not taken into account a report by the NGO Protest Network filed a month before KTB’s closure. Instead, the prosecution worked on a similar report in which, however, Peevski had not been named. The official in charge of the case was Petyo Petrov.

On Thursday, Staykov addressed the new ad-hoc parliamentary committee into the networks of Martin Bojanov “The Notary” and Petyo Petrov “The Euro”. Staykov reminded the MPs about a link between Peevski and “The Euro”. In 2007, Petrov was a witness in proceedings against Peevski who had been under investigation on charges of malfeasance in office. The proceedings were hastily terminated after witnesses changed their testimony.

Shortly after the MPs heard from the ACF representatives, who proposed that Peevski also stand before the committee, some members – from the GERB, MRF and BSP parties left the chamber. Thus, an agenda for next week’s session was not adopted and it is uncertain whether it will occur.

There are also additional links between Petrov and Peevski. In 2005, Delyan Peevski was appointed to the economic crimes department of the Sofia bureau of the National Investigation Service. The proposal for his appointment came from the then-director of the institution, Angel Alexandrov – a close friend of Ahmed Dogan, the honorary chairperson of the MRF. At the time, Petrov was also working at the National Investigation Service and Peevski was his direct subordinate. In 2013, the media outlet PIK referred to Petrov and Peevski as an explosive duo within the investigation service. The reference was made as Peevski resumed his post at the National Investigation Service following his resignation from the top job at the helm of the State Agency National Security. Peevski spent just a few hours on that job and was forced to resign as the news of his appointment triggered mass civic protests.

In an interview from 2016, the former KTB banker Tzvetan Vasilev had this to say about Peevski’s views of Petrov: “Give him [Petrov] a bottle of whisky, he will finish it and come up with charges against anyone you point to”.

Read the full text in Bulgarian here.