Following is the description of the Bulgarian company called Multigroup posted on the Bulgaria Online website:

Multigroup Holding

Industrial and financial holding company

...

Multigroup is a well-known Bulgarian financial and industrial holding registered in Zug, Switzerland but operating mainly in Bulgaria. Multigroup financial operations are managed by MG Finance, a UK-based company and include the Bulgarian Credit Bank (insolvent since Jan. 1999), Skopje-based Balkan Bank, and Multigroup pension fund.

Industrial companies with Multigroup majority stake include: Bourgas sugar plants, Kristal AD (sugar and confectionery), Menada-Bratya Syarovi 1901 AD and Sakar Winery AD (wineries), Papas Oil (two sunflower oil plants), Mutifruit AD (dried fruits), Fortuna AD (grain storage), Elkabel AD (wires), Rubin (tubes), Metal Tools Works-Nova Zagora and Mechatronica (machine building), Nitex, Nora, Prespa, Elitsa, Liliya (knitware [sic]), Prista AD (leather wares [sic]), Splavcommerce AD (waste processing), Ship Repair Works-Bourgas AD (ship building), Geotechnoengineering (cartography), MG - Trading, Minstroy Mining Company (trade), Balkantourist AD, Grand Hotel Varna AD, Rila AD - Borovets, Veliko Tarnovo-Arbanassi Interhotel AD, Bulgaria Ro Hotel AD, BCC - credit cards, Diners' Club Bulgaria, Balkantourist rent-a-car, BALKANTOURIST UK, BALKANTOURIST USA (travel services).

Multigroup has minority share in many other companies among them Globo AD (cable TV), Sandaski Hotel, Ares AD (oil trade). It has control over the most successful Bulgarian football team CSKA Sofia. Multigroup Holding was established in 1988 and since then is managed by Ilia Pavlov, president and CEO. Although Multigroup is one of the largest private holding[s] in Bulgaria there is very controversial opinion about the company (n.d.).

According to the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Multigroup Bulgaria Holding was located in 1999 at 1700 Sofia, 172, Dragan Tzankov (1999). Elitsa S.A., Nora, Prespa-Laky S.A. and Lilia-C S.A. were described as knitwear production factories which were components of the holding (ibid.).

In 1998, Multigroup consisted of 150 companies and employed approximately 25,000 people (Transitions 1998). For 1997, it declared a turnover worth US$1.5 billion (ibid.). In 1999, it amounted to US$2 billion (U.S. News & World Report 8 Nov. 1999).

In late October 1999, Hillary Clinton returned a US$1,000 check which Darina Pavlova, the wife of Multigroup's President and CEO Ilia Pavlov, had donated for the election campaign of the U.S. First Lady (Trud 2 Nov. 1999). The reason invoked pertains to the "dubious origin" of the donation (ibid). In reference to the same event, The Des Moines Register added that the contribution was linked to a company with alleged connections with organized crime in Bulgaria (31 Oct. 1999). According to a secret telegram from the US embassy in Sofia to the immigration services in Washington, Multigroup was allegedly involved in killings, theft, money laundering, and smuggling (Trud 2 Nov. 1999; The Des Moines Register 31 Oct. 1999; U.S. News & World Report 8 Nov. 1999). However, Multigroup always denied these allegations and was officially only suspected of sugar smuggling (ibid.; Trud 2 Nov. 1999). The holding also sued Oxford Analytica, a consulting company, in a British court, for a report linking the holding with criminal and intelligence spheres (U.S. News & World Report 8 Nov. 1999). This report was based on an affidavit authored by Lt. Gen. James Williams, a former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Director (ibid.).

On 26 August 1998, Multigroup's headquarters in Sofia were raided by agents of Bulgaria's organized crime fighting service, following the orders of Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev (Transitions 1998). The search was part of an investigation into alleged illegal imports of US$29 million in sugar by Bartex, one of Multigroup's branches (ibid.). However, the agents were ordered by the Bulgarian Prosecutor-General to halt the operations before their completion (ibid.). Multigroup's President expressed his readiness to cooperate with the authorities in this regard and fired the manager of Bartex, Spartak Zharov, who was sentenced to pay US$2.5 million for importing 12,500 tons of sugar without paying customs duties (ibid.). Transitions also reported that Multigroup was investigated earlier in 1998 for racketeering and tax evasion (ibid.).

On 19 February 1998, the Bulgarian police dismantled a network of traffickers in pirated compact discs, in which Multigroup was implicated (AFP 20 Feb. 1998). The holding was exporting pirated CDs of international singers such as Julio Iglesias and John Lennon by using a licence granted for the production of Russian music (ibid.).

With respect to its relations with Bulgarians active on the political scene, Transitions claimed that Multigroup expanded its activities to key sectors of the economy and benefited from privatization policies by taking advantage of "weak and corrupt governments" which ruled Bulgaria in the first half of the 1990s (1998). However, the U.S. News & World Report qualified Multigroup's relations with the government as "testy" (8 Nov. 1999). According to The Economist, the conglomerate had become the "target" of the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Ivan Kostov in 1998 (17 Oct. 1998). For example, in April 1998, Bul-gar-gas, the state gas company took over Multigroup's stake in a joint venture in natural gas with Gazprom, the Russian energy company (ibid.). Bulgaria's Interior Minister also publicly charged Multigroup with masterminding murders and kidnappings and accused the Prosecutor-General of protecting the holding (Transitions 1998). In July 1998, the holding severed its financial relations with Bulgarian political parties following a decision made by its president Ilia Pavlov (Kontinent 4 Aug. 1998).

There is no mention of M-Invest, D-invest nor V-Invest in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 20 February 1998. "Bulgarian Police Smash Pirate CD Ring." (NEXIS)

Bulgaria Online. N.d. "Multigroup Holding." http://www.db.online.bg/norma/wwwbgweb2.fullinfo?sID=51&lang=1 [Accessed 17 May 2000]

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). 1999. "Intertext'99 - List of Companies." http://www.bcci.bg/events/intertex_listl.htm [Accessed 17 May 2000]

The Des Moines Register. 31 October 1999. "First Lady Returns Suspect Donation." (NEXIS)

The Economist [London]. 17 October 1998. "Sprucing up Bulgaria." (NEXIS)

Kontinent [Sofia, in Bulgarian]. 4 Aug. 1998. Nikolay Peychev. "Bulgaria: Article Views Multigroup's Future Operations." (FBIS-EEU-98-220 8 Aug. 1998/WNC)

Transitions [Prague]. 1998. "Country Files: Bulgaria: Annual Report 1998." http://www.ijt.cz/session/highlight?url=/countries/bular98.html&words=institutional+tug+war+&color=red [Accessed 11 May 2000]

Trud [Sofia, in Bulgarian]. 2 November 1999. Mariyana Tsutsekova. "Hilary Clinton Returns Multigroup Campaign." (FBIS-EEU-1999-1102 20 Nov. 1999/WNC)

U.S. News & World Report [Washington D.C.]. 8 November 1999. David E. Kaplan and Fred Vogelstein. "More Foreign Intrigue Courts the Clintons." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Lexis/Nexis

Internet sites including:

Black Sea Business Directory Compass

Bourse Information Company Capital Market

Bulgaria 2000

Bulgaria Online

Bulgaria.com

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industrie

Bulgarian Yellow Pages

Companies in Bulgaria

Keesing's

News.bg

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

Transitions

World News Connection (WNC)