Two influential Bulgarian election list leaders on US sanctions list
With Vasil Bozhkov of the new CENTRE party announcing Tuesday that he will head his party’s list for early national elections, he joins Delyan Peevski of the Turkish minority party DPS as the second influential Bulgarian politician to head a national election list while also being on the US sanctions corruption list.
Peevski leads the list of the Turkish minority party DPS (Renew) in its political stronghold, the southern town of Kardzhali in the Rhodope Mountains, close to the Turkish border, as well as in Blagoevgrad, where his party is also hoping for a good result.
Peevski’s ambition is to lead the DPS to second place in the forthcoming elections and to become the main spoiler in the Bulgarian parliament.
He was elected co-leader of the DPS in February 2024 despite being on the US sanctions list since 2021. The party’s other co-leader, Jevdet Chakarov, will head the party’s list for the European elections.
Bozkhov, a businessman and another highly influential Bulgarian on the US sanctions list will head the party list of his newly formed National Movement CENTRE party in the capital of Sofia and Pazardjik.
By 2020, the businessman had amassed a huge fortune from his gambling business in Bulgaria and other countries in the Black Sea region, but after the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office launched a criminal case against him, he fled to Dubai.
In August 2023, Bozhkov made a surprise return to Bulgaria and was placed under house arrest.
On Tuesday, after announcing his candidacy for parliament, the Sofia City Court released Bozhkov on BGN 130 000 (€65 000) bail, allowing the Bulgarian businessman, nicknamed “The Skull”, to actively participate in the election campaign.
Bozhkov faces more than 16 charges, grouped into three major criminal cases. According to Bulgarian prosecutors, he is accused of non-payment of nearly 700 million leva (€350 million) in gambling fees, illegal possession of antiquities and incitement to murder.
However, Bozhkov claims that he is a victim of repression under the rule of former prime minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB-led government, and after his release, the businessman said he is concentrating his efforts on participating in the snap parliamentary and European elections scheduled for 9 June.
“Who are you going to vote for? For me, right?” Bozhkov told a journalist at the courthouse in Sofia, who asked him how he expected his new party, CENTRE, to fare in the elections.
The businessman’s previous party, Bulgarian Summer, was founded three years ago but only managed to participate once in the parliamentary elections, garnering 2.9% of the vote.
In June 2021, Bozhkov and his party were sanctioned by the US under the Magnitsky Act, which led to the seizure of the political formation’s bank accounts and suspending its activities.
Now, the businessman vows to fight the political status quo in Bulgaria, claiming that his party is the only alternative. “They can neither buy us nor scare us,” he said.
“We have to fight them. I’m absolutely serious. Let’s fight against (the leader of the leading party GERB Boyko) Borisov and (Delyan) Peevski,” Bozhkov promised his supporters.
Sociological research has not yet measured the support for Vasil Bozhkov’s new party.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
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