
The number of Russian companies in Bulgaria is suspiciously growing
Bulgaria, as part of the EU, ended up on the Kremlin's blacklist, so it is more than strange that it is proving very attractive to Russian businessmen and capital. The number of companies with Russian participation in the country has seen a disturbing spike in recent months. This is clear from the report prepared at the request of MP Martin Dimitrov from the Ministry of Justice, writes "Sega.bg.news".
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According to the Ministry of Justice, as of January 3 this year, there are almost 13.000 companies with a significant Russian presence in Bulgaria. In response to a similar question, Justice Minister Maria Pavlova said in September that there are around 40 companies with more than 12.000 percent Russian participation, which means that in just four months the number has increased by around 1.000.
An urgent check of the special services is necessary to determine and analyze what is behind this activity and what dictates this interest in a "hostile" country like Bulgaria, commented MP Martin Dimitrov. According to the new data in the Commercial Register, the following are entered: 7.132 companies with one owner, a Russian individual or legal entity, 5.548 limited liability companies with more than 40% participation of Russian individuals or legal entities, 212 companies in which a Russian citizen is registered as the beneficial owner.
In short, the total number of companies with significant Russian participation is 12.892. These are official data, and it is not clear how many “minority shares” of Russian citizens in companies registered in Bulgaria are. A separate topic is the use of fictitious persons to conceal the real owners. Minister Pavlova herself points out that the information presented by the Commercial Register may not be accurate and complete, since the entry of the country of citizenship for individuals or the seat of legal entities is not part of the circumstances subject to mandatory entry in the registers kept by the Registration Agency. Last autumn, the Moody’s company published information according to which there are more companies with Russian participation in Bulgaria than in Germany and Italy.