Parliament heard Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev on Thursday about allegations of malpractice in public procurement procedures for the installation of crash barriers. The hearing also concerned available information about the alleged use of funds paid under such contracts to finance flights by Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Delyan Peevski, including the amount paid, their invoicing, the individuals who covered the expenses and information about persons linked to them.
The hearing came after on September 18, the Interior Minister told a briefing that companies involved in the supply of crash barriers diverted funds to a shell company, which in turn paid for private flights taken by Peevski. The check into crash barriers was prompted by fatal traffic accidents on Trakia Motorway in the summer. In early July, Demerdzhiev said that the MRF leader had taken 227 flights from Sofia Airport between 2018 and 2026, 181 of them on private jets at a cost of EUR 1.8 million.
At Thursday’s hearing, Demerdzhiev said that documents obtained from Hyperion Aviation at the request of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime contain no payments personally received by Peevski for flights between January 1, 2023 and June 15, 2026. The invoices were issued and paid by Spectrum Air AD in 36 bank transfers totalling EUR 5,083,800, the Minister specified.
The same individuals are listed as beneficial owners of Spectrum Air AD, which purchased the aircraft used for Peevski’s flights, Demerdzhiev added. There were 18 flights in 2023 and another 18 in 2024.
In the first half of 2022, the Road Infrastructure Agency launched a public procurement procedure divided into six lots, each covering a different geographical region of the country. All six lots were won by four interconnected entities that together account for 99.6% of the crash barrier market, Demerdzhiev said. Some of the successful bidders are civil partnerships: Jupiter 5 AD, Bezopasnost Zapad, OSP-Sever and OSP-Severoiztok.
The initial value of the contracts was BGN 253,848,403 and increased to BGN 414,817,140 through an amendment, Demerdzhiev explained. He added that the companies were linked, which was evident from an analysis of their ownership structures.
Regarding the links between the companies that fulfilled orders for crash barriers and the company Spectrum Air EAD, which purchased and operated the aircraft used for Peevski’s flights, Minister Demerdzhiev said that there were three loan agreements. The first loan agreement, worth BGN 7,000,000, was concluded between Spectrum Air and In 3 on September 21, 2020. The company In 3 is wholly owned by Georgi Samuilov. A loan agreement was also signed with a municipal bank on September 24, 2020, for BGN 12,000,000, as well as an agreement dated August 10, 2020, between Spectrum Air and Sun Yachting EOOD worth USD 600,000. Sun Yachting is owned by Garo Mamasyan, Demerdzhiev added.
According to him, Mamasyan has long been listed in the Trade Register as the beneficial owner of the company that purchased and operated the aircraft for Peevski’s flights. Mamasyan was part of the company KMV Road Safety Systems Ltd., which is a member of the Bezopasnost Zapad consortium – one of the companies that won public contracts for the supply and installation of crash barriers.
Another company involved in the supply and installation of crash barriers was the OSP-Sever consortium, managed by Georgi Getov. He is linked to the company KMV Road Safety Systems, which is directly linked to Garo Mamasyan, commented Demerdzhiev.
The proposal by MP of MRF Hamid Hamid to expand the hearing to include Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov and Deputy Prime Minister Galab Donev was rejected, including upon reconsideration. Hamid argued that the most controversial crash barrier contracts were signed by Shishkov under Donev’s “magic formula,” and that a government decision adopted on Wednesday would allow further indexation of already indexed contracts every three months.
Hamid asked Minister Demerdzhiev if there were any invoices showing that someone had paid for Peevski’s flights. “We have learned that two companies made payments to each other – Spectrum Air to Hyperion Aviation – but no one has yet figured out what Peevski has to do with these payments,” commented the MP. Demerdzhiev said: “The same individuals appear in the companies involved in the supply and installation of crash barriers, as well as in the company that acquired this aircraft [used by Peevski] and subsequently operated it, and – according to information provided by the Maltese authorities – financed the flights carried out with this aircraft.”
MP of Continue the Change Velislav Velichkov asked whether an audit or investigation had been ordered regarding Peevski or members of his family for the specified period. Demerdzhiev replied that he had personally filed a report with the National Revenue Agency (NRA) requesting an investigation into claims made in the media that Peevski’s flights were paid for with family funds. “Regarding Peevski’s claim that he and his family paid for the flights, the only way this could be true is if they were the actual owners of Spectrum Air’s capital, but we do not have such information at this time,” said the Interior Minister.
MP of GERB-UDF Nikolay Nankov noted that the most recent contracts for the supply and installation of crash barriers were signed during Ivan Shishkov’s tenure as acting regional development minister. He urged Demerdzhiev to ask his colleague why these particular companies were chosen. “Do you know who is currently supplying crash barriers, and with whom discussions have been held through intermediaries regarding their supply?” Nankov further asked. Information has emerged about a Turkish company that works with Russian steel, he noted. Nankov added that a new regulation to protect European production takes effect on July 1 and asked whether this was an attempt to circumvent the sanctions regime.
Demerdzhiev said he had heard from the Prime Minister that the first to be investigated would be the cabinet ministers. “Let there be no doubt that if anyone attempts to deviate from legal requirements, they will face the same actions and determination that are applied to these corrupt practices,” Demerdzhiev stated. “You must be well aware of these companies participating in these crash barrier tenders, because they first appeared as early as 2015–2016 [when GERB was in power],” Demerdzhiev told Nankov. “We will check what types of crash barriers are being delivered, because there are doubts about the certificates for those that have been delivered so far,” Demerdzhiev added.
After the hearing, MRF leader Peevksi commented: “We have learned that there are invoices between two companies that have nothing to do with me.” In Peevski’s words, Minister Demerdzhiev was completely unconvincing and did not present any evidence. “No invoices were presented for 36 flights. I am glad that after today, all of this is over,” Peevski told journalists. “A complete fiasco for Demerdzhiev. Lies, lies, lies. That is all we saw from him; he is just a liar,” the MRF leader added.
Parliament Hears Interior Minister over Crash Barrier Procurement, MRF Leader’s Flights 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-08 10:42:00
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