Bulgaria Moves to Freeze Assets of Media Moguls

Ognyan Donev (R) and Lyubomir Pavlov (L) were questioned at the National Investigation Services before being charged with tax and document fraud. Photo by sbj-bg.edu

The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has officially demanded that the assets of media moguls Ognyan Donev and Lyubomir Pavlov be frozen.

Donev and Pavlov's personal assets and properties will not be frozen for now, Sofia City Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Rumyana Arnaudova has told reporters.

The freezing of the two partners' assets is not expected to hamper the operations of Media Group Bulgaria Holding and the publishing of its high-circulation newspapers, including 24 Hours daily and Trud daily

The two media moguls have been charged with money laundering and document fraud charges.

Prosecutors were approached by Donev and Pavlov's former partners Hristo Grozev and Austrian Karl Habsburg.

The allegations reportedly implicate Pavlov and Donev in a money laundering scheme, thanks to which they purchased by WAZ Mediengruppe assets in Bulgaria and staged an illegal corporate take-over of the newspapers.

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