The Petrohan Case: Why Are Donations from Public Figures Missing from Ivaylo Kalushev’s Financial Reports?

Why donations made by public figures were not reflected in the financial statements of the association and company linked to Ivaylo Kalushev remains unclear.

According to lawyers, it is possible the donations were made to other organisations, including abroad.

€80,000 for Kalushev’s activities was donated by Sofia’s current mayor, Vasil Terziev. A substantial amount of equipment was provided by Sasha Bezuhanova. This became known — and was acknowledged by them — after the tragedy near the Petrohan Pass.

However, no such donations appear in publicly available financial reports of Kalushev’s companies.

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Lawyer Dimitar Delchev:
“This is unusual, because legal entities operating as non-profit organisations in the public interest are exempt from local taxes. It would therefore make sense for any donations to be channelled through such an association, as this would avoid costs. The only explanation would be if the association did not wish to declare the donation.”

Nikolay Tsvetanov, lawyer:
“Each of the men who is a victim or otherwise involved in the events has quite a few legal entities registered in his name and performs different roles in other legal entities. The activity could therefore have been carried out through another legal entity.”

Tsvetanov added that the donations may legally have been made outside Bulgaria, but in that case investigators would need to cooperate with foreign institutions. He also noted that it is not only investigators who are able to carry out checks into the donations.

Dimitar Delchev, lawyer:
“As far as the National Revenue Agency of Bulgaria is responsible for overall supervision of local taxation, it can establish whether tax was paid on the transfer of this sum. Likewise, Sofia Municipality, which should receive local tax from such a donation, can also carry out a check to determine whether any tax or fees were paid.”

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Investigators can trace the path of the money in the most straightforward way available to them — through the bank accounts of both the donor and the recipient.

Nikolay Tsvetanov, lawyer:
“The first place where receipt of the funds can be checked is the association’s bank accounts - a strictly defined circle of persons - in general, investigative authorities of various kinds of investigators, with the decision of the district court."

Delchev added that if a donation exceeding 10,000 leva (BGN) had been made in cash, this would constitute a breach of the law.