All those named in the second list of the Bulgarians sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act are under investigation, the Prosecutor's office said on February 15. Additional information has been requested from services in the Ministry of Interior, State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Revenue Agency (NRA) that may be relevant to proving corruption crimes.
The Prosecutor’s office added that there are pre-trial proceedings investigating the actions of former Kozloduy NPP chiefs Alexander Nikolov and Ivan Genov, as well as former energy minister Rumen Ovcharov. Part of the investigated circumstances are mentioned as motives for the imposition of sanctions.
In another pre-trial proceeding, evidence is being gathered regarding the actions of former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov. In this case, a request was sent to the United Arab Emirates last April to question gambling businessman Vassil Bozhkov as a witness via video-conference, but there has been no response yet.
The Prosecutor's office reminds that the fifth sanctioned person - Nikolai Malinov is on trial for espionage for Russia.