Borisov’s astrologer: “For the boutique in Barcelona ask the chief architect of Sofia Zdravko Zdravkov”

The chief architect of Sofia , Zdravko Zdravkov , was involved in the change of ownership of Borislava Yovcheva’s luxury boutique in Barcelona. Borislava allegedly has a child from the former PM Boyko Borisov. This is according to Svetoslav Spasov, a former adviser to Boyko Borisov and a diplomat in Vienna. As BRRD revealed , his ex-wife Desislava Hristova acquired in March last year the Spanish company EMA BGS SL, which owned the luxury boutique Ermanno Scervino of Paseo de Gracia, the most expensive shopping street in the Catalan capital.

The boutique is part of the assets of the former Miss Bikini, who is said to have a sentimental relationship with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and a child with him. Since 2012, Yovcheva and her family have been living a luxurious lifestyle in Barcelona, where they live in a house for 3 million euros. Because of the unclear origins of her welfare, Catalan police MOSSOS D’Esquadra and Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office have launched a money laundering investigation at the behest of DG BOETS, according to an extensive publication by the Spanish newspaper El Periodico in February last year.

Prime Minister Borissov rejected claims that he was related to Yovcheva’s mysterious enrichment, but did not deny that he knew her. The Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office launched a probe, which was soon completed with a refusal to initiate pre-trial proceedings. However, the scandal did not subside and spread to the European Parliament. In September last year, the issue entered the agenda of the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee. MEPs from the Monitoring Group on Democracy and the Rule of Law (DRFMG) sent several questions to Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, including a question at what stage the investigation gained popularity as “Barcelonagate”. The same issue was included in a new LIBE inquiry to the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office on January 8 this year.

The company EMA BGS SL has come to the attention of Spanish investigators because, according to them, Yovcheva exercised “functions of management and control” in the store that belonged to this company. It is assumed that the company was named after Yovcheva’s child Emma, for which there was no information in the Spanish registers who the father was. The capital of EMA BGS SL of EUR 1.75 million comes from the offshore company Palms Enterprises Overseas, linked to Borisov’s associates, as well as from Borislava Yovcheva’s father. The latter invested 1 million euros and it is not clear where he got this money, as until his resettlement in the Catalan capital he was an ordinary electrician. The origin of the working money of the company that trades in the expensive goods of the Italian designer in the most expensive place in Barcelona – Pasao de Gracia, is also unclear. According to investigators, it was more than 600,000 euros.

Palms Enterprises Overseas Limited is registered in Cyprus with a nominal owner, but in Bulgaria it is represented by businessman Yordan Hristov. His wife Silvia Nikolova was the manager of EMA BGS SL. Hristov has a joint business project with Ivan Sazdov, who is among Borisov’s most trusted people. Hristov was also famous for marrying Borislava Yovcheva a few days before the publication of El Periodico.

The publication in “El Periodico” is dated February 21, 2020. Five days earlier, on February 16, 2020, Borislava Yovcheva and Yordan Hristov officially became spouses. In his comments about the scandal, Prime Minister Borissov said he had been warned at least a week before the publication and expected it to come out. It was in this time range that Yovcheva and the 38 years older than her Hristov married in a regime of divided community property. This fact reinforces suspicions that the marital relations between the two are fictitious and in order to distract the public and the investigators from Borisov’s role in the Barcelona affair.

Yordan Hristov told the BRRD that his marriage to Yovcheva was a mistake, her child was not his, and acquaintance with Boyko Borisov brought him only problems. He said he didn’t know who owned Palms Enterprises. Hristov also reported that the store in Barcelona generated large losses under the management of his new wife.

The boutique is transferred from gerber to gerber

Immediately after the publication of El Periodico, Chervigno’s boutique was emptied of the goods and closed, and three weeks later Ema BGS SL became the property of the Bulgarian company “VBG Energy” of Rositsa Velkova – a former expert of GERB involved in the Hocheger scandal. But this is only the first stage of the deal, which took place on March 12. The very next day Velkova sold “VBG Energy” to the wife of Svetoslav Spasov – Desislava Spasova. This happened on Friday 13 March 2020 and since then there has been no change in the ownership of either Ema BGS S.L. or VBG Energy. However, the Spanish Commercial Register still shows the name of Rositsa Velkova as a representative of VBG. The BJP was unable to contact her for comment.

Svetoslav Spasov is known as a close adviser to Boyko Borisov during his first term as prime minister and even his personal astrologer. His wedding to Desislava Spasova in 2010 became a significant secular event and was covered in detail by the official government “24 hours”. Spasov, however, did not serve as an adviser, and in 2012 he went as Bulgaria’s permanent representative to the UN and OSCE office in Vienna. Since 2019 his mandate has been terminated by the Foreign Office and now he works as a lecturer at the UNWE.

Spasov denied knowing about his wife’s deal since 2019, but he hinted that Sofia’s chief architect Zdravko Zdravkov must be aware of the deal.

“I didn’t know, really, we’re in divorce proceedings. In fact, she left me because of a relationship with the chief architect of Sofia Zdravko Zdravkov… Maybe he can tell you more information. My name cannot be involved in this type of transaction. If Zdravko Zdravkov has consulted or advised on one thing or another, ask him,” Spasov told BRRD.

The BRRD sent specific questions by e-mail to the Chief Architect of Sofia Zdravko Zdravkov. We asked him if he is in factual cohabitation with Desislava Spasova, whether he is aware of the deal for the Spanish company and whether he has a financial participation in it. There was no answer to our questions.

Desislava Spasova denied that Zdravko Zdravkov had any role in the acquisition of VBG Energy and through it of EMA BGS SL. However, she could not give a meaningful explanation why she bought this reputationally toxic asset from Rositsa Velkova.

What happens to the files in Bulgaria?

Ivan Geshev’s office is extremely restrained in communication about “Barcelonagate”. After the publication of El Periodico, the prosecutor’s office initiated a probe, which was quietly terminated as early as May 12, as a probe of the Sega newspaper showed. In September last year, the European Parliament sent questions to prosecutors, including a request for information on Barcelonagate. The prosecution replied to MEPs that a request had been sent to Spain, to which no response had been received. Before the Bulgarian Parliament, Geshev reported that Boyko Borisov had been interrogated on this case, but it was not clear when.

In the new inquiry to the prosecution, MEPs from the LIBE Committee show that they are not satisfied with Ivan Geshev’s answers. “In addition to awaiting the outcome of the investigation in Spain, have you taken concrete actions in Bulgaria, given that such a signal was submitted to the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office long before it was received by the Spanish authorities?”

So far, it is not known whether the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office has found and questioned Borislava Yovcheva herself and her father, as well as persons related to the ownership of the house in Barcelona and the boutique. To date, these are Alexander Chaushev (the formal owner of the house), Yordan Hristov, Silvia Nikolova, Rositsa Velkova, Desislava and Svetoslav Spasovi. This list already includes the authorized chief architect of Sofia Zdravko Zdravkov.

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