Businessman Slavi Binev Shot Dead in Sofia’s Pavlovo District; Three Arrested in Connection with the Murder

Three people have been detained in connection with the murder of Slavi Binev in Sofia, acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Lyubomir Nikolov, announced at a press briefing on October 24. The businessman was shot dead at his home in 'Pavlovo' residential district of the capital this morning. He sustained a gunshot wound to the head.

Slavi Binev is a businessman, sports official and politician. He was born on 10 December 1965 in Sofia. He built a career in taekwondo and business. In 1992, he won a European taekwondo title at an open championship in Celje, Slovenia.

In 2007, he was elected a Member of the European Parliament on the Ataka party ticket. He served two consecutive terms, from 2007 to 2014. He also ran for mayor of Sofia in 2007. In 2012, he founded the GORD political movement and later joined the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria.

In 2014, he was elected to the 43rd National Assembly and became chair of the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media. Following a critical public reaction, he stepped down from the committee post.

In 2017, he was elected president of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation and subsequently held international positions in sports organisations, including the European Taekwondo Union. In May 2026, Binev was re-elected president of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation for a new five-year term.

Photo: BTA/Archive

Lyubomir Nikolov, acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “At 10.18 am, we received a report via the 112 emergency number of a person having been shot in the Gurdova Glava neighbourhood. We immediately dispatched teams to establish the circumstances surrounding the report. A little later, we established that three people known to the victim had been at the address. We have preliminary information that these people were frequent visitors to his home, and that they had visited him specifically yesterday. Following a brief meeting at the address, a witness whom we identified at the scene stated that he had heard a gunshot and then seen three people — most likely the same individuals who had arrived earlier to visit the victim — leave in an unknown direction in a Lexus passenger car.”

The suspects were arrested near the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel at kilometre 54 of trakia motorway. The detainees are two people with Turkish names and one carrying a Bulgarian identity card. Two firearms have been recovered, he added.

Lyubomir Nikolov, acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “At the scene of the arrests, we found three people: two with Turkish names, most likely of Turkish origin, and one of Bulgarian origin carrying a Bulgarian identity card. Two firearms were recovered. They apparently attempted to conceal one of them by throwing it away immediately before the vehicle was stopped, while the other was found in a small bag belonging to one of the people travelling in the car.”

It has been established that the detainees were involved in construction work. The motive for the murder is being investigated.

Lyubomir Nikolov, acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: “We suspect that the motive for the murder, although it is far too early to comment, may have been unresolved financial disputes. Our preliminary information is that the people who visited the man who was shot were involved in construction and own a construction company. They are currently building two residential complexes in Sofia.”

Further investigative procedures are to be carried out. The detainees will be transferred under escort to the Sofia Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, said Senior Commissioner Nikolay Peltekov, Director of the Sofia Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior.

Photos: BTA

Senior Commissioner Nikolay Peltekov, Director of the Sofia Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior: “They will be taken under escort to the Sofia Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, where the pre-trial proceedings will be conducted. The case materials will most likely be submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office tomorrow, given the nature of the crime.”