Bulgaria Wannabe Oligarch Linked to "Untouchable" Detainees

Believed to be one of the richest men in the Balkans, Kovachki has denied any wrongdoing. Photo by BGNES

The ten suspects, who were arrested early on Thursday in the latest police raid against organized crime, code-named “The Untouchable”, are believed to have been linked to energy tycoon Hristo Kovachki, who is investigated on tax evasion charges.

“The operation is expected to cut a scheme to siphon off millions of levs in value-added tax from the budget, linked to energy companies,” Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said.

The minister, who declined to say whether there are high-level officials involved, specified that some of the arrested will be released

Kovachki, whose party failed to win seats in July's parliamentary election, has diverse business interests, ranging from manufacturing to banking and from energy to retail.

After misfiring several times, Sofia City Court finally gave at the end of January the go-ahead of the trial against energy tycoon Hristo Kovachki, who is investigated on tax evasion charges.

Kovhacki owns the Thermal Plants "Maritsa-Iztok 3" in Dimitrovgrad and "Bobov Dol", several mines, as well as the heating utilities in Vratsa, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo and Pleven, the grocery chain "Evropa" and the "Atomenergoremont" company.

Believed to be one of the richest men in the Balkans, Kovachki has denied any wrongdoing.

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