Word against document: According to the Commercial Register, Assen Vassilev continues to have an offshore. He denies

According to the information in the Commercial Register, Asen Vaskov Vassilev is still the actual owner and representative of STV Holdings EOOD and STV

Bulgaria

EOOD, as well as the owner and manager of the offshore Axelbert. (Akselbert Ltd), registered in the British Virgin Islands. The Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev claims that this is not the case, but did not want to answer a question asked under the APIA when exactly he terminated his participation in the offshore company, as well as to provide a document certifying this circumstance.

Allegations of
undeclared offshore
of Assen Vassilev were made by the newspaper Trud two years ago, when Vassilev was caretaker minister. This information was falsely presented as a revelation by the Pandora Files. BIRD is the only Bulgarian media with access to this international journalistic project and
He denied
Trud’s claims that there were such documents in Pandora.

However, there are documents in the Bulgarian Commercial Register and two years later it is a fact that Assen Vassilev is still the official owner of the offshore Axelbert. Change of ownership of “STV Holdings

” and “SWR Bulgaria

” has not been declared, despite the legal obligation of the new manager to submit a new declaration if there is a change.

In 2021, in response to Trud’s accusations, the press service of “Continuing the Change” sent the following position:

“In his tax return, which appears on the website of the Anti-Corruption Commission, it is entered that 12 months before his inauguration as caretaker Minister of Finance, Assen Vassilev left the ownership and management of the company Axelbert Limited, cited by the Trud newspaper, as well as from all other companies in which he participated,” the party said.

This statement is not true. Vassilev holds the post from May 12, 2021. At the beginning of May, as the sole owner of the capital and representative of Axelbert, he appointed as manager of his Bulgarian companies Mario Ivanov Sotirov. The change of manager was entered in the Commercial Register on May 13, 2021.

On May 17, 2021, Assen Vassilev submitted
a declaration
for compatibility, in which he claims that he is not a representative of the offshore company. It is not clear how in one working day – Friday 14 May, he managed to get rid of the property of “Axelbert”. So far, no one has seen a document for the transfer of ownership of this company from Vassilev to another person.

“He is not the owner at the moment.”

Questions asked
under the APIA
when exactly Assen Vassilev got rid of the ownership and representative functions in Axelbert and whether he would provide a document for this circumstance, the Ministry of Finance preferred not to answer. The answer only states that

“At present, Mr. Assen Vassilev is not a representative and is not the owner of AXELBERT EOOD.”

However, the “present moment” is not a convincing enough answer to the specifically asked questions. They are important because in the last two years Assen Vassilev has twice submitted declarations in his capacity as a regular minister that he is not a representative of a company. At the same time, according to the Commercial Register, he continues to be the owner and representative of the offshore company.

Thus, at this point, we have Vassilev’s word against the documents that are entered in the Commercial Register.

Since registered in 2020, the two companies owned by Assen Vassilev’s offshore company – STV Holdings

and SWR Bulgaria

– have not submitted financial statements to the Commercial Register, which is also a violation.

The situation with the company “STV Consulting” is different

“EOOD, which was formerly owned by Assen Vassilev and is now owned by Mario Sotirov. As of May 2023, it has been became

a debtor of the NRA, as reported BIRD.BG The debt was paid after our publication.

In addition, the company owns an impressive 5-storey building in the top center of Sofia. The building of ul. “Chataldzha” 3

, according to experts, costs at least BGN 4 million.

Leading photo: Assen Vasilev (left), Mario Sotirov (right)

***

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