Balgarianovinite.com Hotel owners on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast were allegedly forced to pay “protection fees” to avoid repeated inspections and water supply cuts, Miroslav Iliev, Deputy Head of the Burgas District Prosecutor’s Office, said here Friday in connection with an investigation into an alleged organized crime group involving four suspects, including two former senior officials at the Burgas Water and Sewerage Company.
Iliev said that the scheme relied on manipulated water metres installed at hotels, with devices allegedly recording significantly lower water consumption than was actually used, while hotel owners paid the difference in cash to members of the group. Prosecutors said the payments ranged from BGN 10,000 to BGN 30,000 per hotel and were made either monthly or once per tourist season, depending on the size of the property and visitor numbers.
Investigators believe between 30 and 50 hotels may have been involved, with most located in the Sunny Beach resort and the nearby village of Ravda in Nessebar Municipality. Hotels that refused to pay allegedly faced inspections that uncovered the manipulated metres, followed by official reports, demands to settle outstanding water bills, and, if payment was not made, the suspension of water service.
“If you cut off water to a hotel in the middle of the tourist season, the result could be bankruptcy. That was the mechanism of the extortion,” Iliev told reporters. He said that four people have been charged in the case, including Hristo Shirokov, who prosecutors allege received the collected funds. Authorities said it has not yet been established whether he led the group or whether its members operated with pre-assigned roles.
The investigation in the case is ongoing. Prosecutors said additional evidence is being gathered and hotel owners and managers will be questioned to determine the full extent of the alleged scheme. They added that it is too early to comment on possible penalties as the case remains in its early stages and the court has yet to rule on requests to keep some of the suspects in custody. Prosecutors Probe Alleged Hotel Extortion Scheme on Black Sea Coast 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-08-07 14:18:32 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law