Russian Connection Comes Out in Barcelonagate

A fellow student of Valentin Zlatev and Alexander Chaushev from the Soviet MGIMO Institute in Moscow is a subject of interest in the Barcelona Gate case, according to sources of Bivol and BIRD. Assen Lyubenov Naydenov has so far remained under the radar of investigative journalists, but he is a key figure, as he is also a confidant of Borisov’s former life partner – Tsvetelina Borislavova. The Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers, to which Bivol and BIRD have access, as members of the international consortium of investigative journalists ICIJ, reveal Naydenov’s role in the offshore schemes of former Lukoil boss Valentin Zlatev.

After years of chicane and beating the ball, the conflict between Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has accelerated the investigation into the money-laundering scandal, garnished with a secret love affair and a child – Barcelonagate. He came out of a Spanish newspaper. “Periodico”, according to which the Spanish prosecutor’s office and the Catalan police have conducted an investigation into the laundering of more than 5 million euros related to the then Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the model Borislava Yovcheva. This story became known after Bivol published the secret recordings between judges Vladimira Yaneva and Rumyana Chenalova in the company of lawyer Momchil Mondeshki, known as Yaneva Gate. From the conversations of Vladimira Yaneva, who is close to GERB, and several media statements by Borisov himself, the hypothesis arose, which suggests that he has a sentimental relationship with the young beauty and a child from her. who was born in 2012.

Since 2013, Yovcheva has led a luxurious life in Barcelona, lives in a house for 3 million euros and runs a fashion boutique on the navel of the Catalan capital, according to investigators in Spain. However, they failed to establish the origin of these funds and officially transferred the investigation to the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office. At the same time, the house in the luxurious part of Barcelona and the boutique in the city center were sold, and Borislava Yovcheva, her father and the child with one parent left the country.

Last week, Boyko Borisov himself, Valentin Zlatev and former Miss Bulgaria Ivayla Bakalova were questioned on Barcelonagate. The latter confirmed to the media that she knows Yovcheva, that she has communicated with her and according to her her child is from Borisov. After the interrogation of Valentin Zlatev last week, Asen Naydenov’s offices were searched and documents and computers containing bank transfer data were seized, sources close to the investigation confirmed. Some of them are suspected to be related to the house in Barcelona, the boutique and the luxurious maintenance of the family in the Catalan capital.

Banker of Zlatev and Borisov

Naydenov’s career is closely related to Zlatev as a representative of his company “Agrohold”. He appeared in the management of Roseximbank when the future governor of the BNB Ivan Iskrov was also on its governing board. Asen Naydenov also represents Agrohold as a shareholder in Bulgarian-Russian Investment Bank . He was appointed liquidator of the Bulgarian-Russian company for the supply of Russian oil to Neftochim Burgas Rosbulneft. He was present in the management of strategic companies working mainly with Russian capital, such as Neftoimpex and Lukoil Garant Broker. His key involvement in a number of strategic Russian business projects clearly testifies to the degree of trust and importance of the Russian-born and graduated from Moscow State University.

Through Agrohold, Naydenov is also a shareholder in CIBANK of Slavcho Hristov, who transferred it years ago for a symbolic amount to Tsvetelina Borislavova. Then there were publications that Hristov was under serious pressure from the rising Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Boyko Borisov to quickly part with his bank and hand it over into the right hands. Naydenov and Borislavova became members of the Bank’s Supervisory Board in 2002, according to a report from the State Gazette. Before him, a member of the Supervisory Board was another loyal person of Zlatev – the lawyer Mihail Lyubomirov Dalakliev.

The role of Borislavova for the financial and business prosperity of Boyko Borisov is discussed in detail in the so-called. “Swiss Report” on Borisov’s criminal past, first published by Bivol. It also includes the name of Asen Naydenov as part of the structures of CIBANK.

In more recent times, Asen Naydenov has been present as a manager or representative of a number of offshore companies in the main companies of Valentin Zlatev and his father. From the leaked documents in Panama and Pandora Papers , offshore companies can also be traced, in which the name of Asen Naydenov is undetectable, according to the Bulgarian register. It was there that his international passport was found, which clearly shows that his birthplace is in the Russian Federation.

Naydenov and Zlatev are fellow students of the Soviet University of International Economic Relations MGIMO. It is believed that thisis a hatchery for Russian foreign intelligence SVRs. From the US diplomatic cables leaked to Wikileaks and published by Bivol it became clear that Valentin Zlatev is considered by the Americans to be a resident of the Russian services in Bulgaria and a major financial backbone for Boyko Borisov’s political career. The close relationship between the two has been demonstrated many times by both Zlatev and Borisov, and under GERB, Lukoil used a political umbrella to avoid billions in taxes. At the very beginning of Borisov’s rule, Lukoil also received a concession at the port of Rosenets, which gained fame as a “Russian enclave” in Bulgaria and the European Union.

Offshore schemes

A check in the Commercial Register shows that Naydenov is a representative of several Cypriot companies associated with the companies of Zlatev and his father – Terra Way Holding Limited and Agriway Holdings Limited. However, there is no information about the offshore Steenbok Holdings, which is also managed by Naydenov. This is established by the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers, which also contain a facsimile of the financier’s passport. It can be seen that forcontact with Naydenov and the other directors there are addresses both in Cyprus and in Dubai.

In Bulgaria, Steinbock Holdings founded Obzor Development EAD in 2005 and bought from Terra Tour Services 25 decares of land on the first line in Obzor for the ridiculous sum of BGN 750,000. or 12 euros per sq.m. After 10 years, the same plots were sold to a Danish company that built the Obzor Beach Resort complex. It is obvious that here we are talking about simulated transactions at prices 10 times lower than the market ones, and the offshore trick points to large-scale money laundering in real estate.

Two cash flows to Barcelona

The provision of the luxurious life of Borislava Yovcheva and her child in the Catalan capital is through two financial flows.

1. Terra Tours – Alexander Chaushev – Numin Invest – House for EUR 3 million
2. Yordan Hristov and Ivan Sazdov – “Sports Properties Primorsko” – Palms Enterprises – Ema BGS S.L. – Boutique in the center of Barcelona and maintenance.

Alexander Chaushev claims that he bought the property for investment purposes for the needs of Zlatevi’s company and gave it for use to Borislava Yovcheva, and her father was the manager of his company. Chaushev himself has no rights as a manager and has never lived there.

The suspicions of the investigators are that Chaushev has received the millions for the house from the offshore company “Terra Way Holding” through “Terra Tour Services”, which are financially managed by Asen Naydenov and are owned by Valentin Zlatev. This is what the data from the seized documents and computers of Naydenov direct.

On the other hand, Yovcheva’s boutique is financed through the offshore Palms Enterprises, backed by Yordan Hristov and his wife Silvia Nikolova. Nikolova also enters as a manager of the company Ema BGS S.L., which is behind the boutique. Separately, as a co-owner of Ema BGS S.L. enters Yovcheva’s father, who contributed 850,000 euros. Currently, Yovchev is pressured by the NRA to pay tax on this amount, which he has not declared, and has not told fiscal inspectors what their origin is. Yovchev’s properties and accounts were seized.

In order to cover up the situation, Yordan Hristov was explicitly married in 2020 to Borislava Yovcheva, and she officially took the surname Hristova. A few months later, the couple divorced. In an interview with BIRD, he said that Yovcheva’s child was not from him and acquaintance with Borisov brought him only problems.

Borisov himself has always denied officially having anything to do with Borislava Yovcheva, her child, and the house in Barcelona. However, he also refused to have DNA testing for paternity. After the latest request of the Prosecutor’s Office to lift Borisov’s immunity as a member of parliament in connection with the investigation into Barcelonagate, he was adamant that under no circumstances would he voluntarily renounce him.

An investigation by BIRD showed that Yordan Hristov’s companies have received millions of EU funds and public procurement contracts and have invested in his company “Sports Properties Primorsko”, together with the offshore companies Palms Enterprises and Gordon Holdings. There is evidence that Palms’ shares in Sports Properties were intangibly artificially inflated through loans, and subsequently sold. There is a coincidence with the amount that has been brought by Cyprus to the company EMA BGS in Barcelona. Belinda Lanion, convicted of money laundering, also emerged in the deals.

After the Spanish newspaper El Periodico published an investigation into the house and the boutique, an intensive sweeping of the traces began.

The boutique was closed and the company was transferred to the woman next to the Rousse sikadzhiya Ilian Penev – Matzola, then to Rositsa Velkova, close to GERB and finally to the wife of Borisov’s “personal astrologer” Svetoslav Spasov. The latter is a former MP from NMSS, and subsequently one of Borisov’s advisers in the Council of Ministers, during the time of GERB. He announced that his wife had fled to the chief architect of Sofia , Zdravko Zdravkov, and therefore could not answer on her behalf. The house in Barcelona sold for $1.8 million. 2021 – almost double the loss for investor Chaushev. According to Bivol, the money from the sale was transferred to the account of Terra Way. Borislava Yovcheva moved from Spain to the UAE, according to Ivayla Bakalova in an interview with ACF, and then, according to operational information, settled in Rome, in a luxury complex with limited access.

According to operational data acquired by Bivol, Borislava Yovcheva often comes to Bulgaria, and in recent months she has made very short entries into the country by road from Turkey through the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint. It is not clear for what purpose are its instant entries into Bulgarian territory, some of which for 10-15 minutes, but a reasonable assumption can be made that this is done in order to take something that cannot be traced and is not convenient to pass through the scanners at the Airport.

Our team continues to follow the case and the development of the investigation to objectively inform its readers!

Joint investigation of BIRD.BG and BIVOL.BG

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