Interpol 'Interested' in Ex Russian MP Bulgarian Business

Former Russian State Duma member from the A Just Russia party Gennady Gudkov. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The international police organization Interpol has taken an interest in the business in Bulgaria and Cyprus of former Russian opposition lawmaker Gennady Gudkov.

The story was reported by the Moscow-based newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The publication reports that the Russian Interior Ministry has received a request to confirm information about Gudkov's criminal activities in the two countries.

Gudkov, a former KGB colonel, was accused of engaging in direct commercial activity while serving as a lawmaker, which is forbidden under Russian law.

The Russian authorities confirmed that Gudkov participated in the management of a company that bought property in Bulgaria, where he was engaged with the construction of expensive real estate.

The MP was probed after a complaint against him was filed by Bulgarian Ivaylo Zartov, Gudkov's former business associate. The Bulgarian is currently serving a 13-year jail sentence for fraud and theft.

It is presumed that before their falling out, the two laundered money through banks in Cyprus.

In mid-September, Gudkov was ousted from Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

He denies all accusations and says the charges were "payback" for his involvement in anti-Kremlin protests.

The leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, PES, of the Party of European Socialists, PES, and former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Sergey Stanishev, strongly condemned Gudkov's ousting.

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