MOSCOW PAPER BARES RUSSIAN TIES TO BULGARIA’S CRIME RING

Leading Russian defense figures bought luxury apartments in a Black Sea resort controlled by an organization that US diplomats have called one of the country’s largest crime syndicates.

In a story written by Important Stories of Russia and the Bureau for Investigative Reporting and Data (BIRD) of Bulgaria for the independent Moscow Times late on September 10, 2020, the two groups said several heads of Russian state-owned companies — including acquaintances of President Vladimir Putin — have residences in a Bulgarian Black Sea resort controlled by the suspected crime syndicate TIM, which was created by communist-era military and intelligence officers with connections at the highest state level.

Important Stories and BIRD found that the resort, near Varna, has a small but influential Russian community, lured there by a former Bulgarian KGB officer who branched out into the hospitality and real estate sectors. In the heart of the resort lie apartments owned by the families of top managers of Rosneft, Gazprom, VTB Bank, as well as CEO of the Rostec state corporation Sergei Chemezov.

While relatives and friends of the Russian state-owned company bosses enjoyed the Bulgaria resort, TIM were building their business empire and investing into Russian state assets. According to the Bulgarian real estate register, more than 20 apartments with an area of more than 100 square meters in the complex are owned by Russians, including top figures from some of the largest state-owned corporations, as well as their relatives and friends. The most notable are acquaintances and colleagues of Sergei Chemezov, CEO of the Rostec state corporation. Chemezov is a long-time friend of Putin, having served with him in the KGB in East Germany. Chemezov’s son, Alexander, is the owner of one of the more exclusive apartments — more than 200 square meters — and a swimming pool and roof terrace of more than 300 square meters. For the apartment, pool, terrace and a space in the underground garage, he paid around six million rubles, as calculated by 2008 exchange rates.

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