Bulgaria’s Economy Minister Bogdan Bogdanov on Monday suggested Russia could have been responsible for an explosion in the early hours of Sunday at an arms factory in the town of Karnobat, just as Bulgaria is ramping up military exports to Ukraine.
The blast comes amid an investigation by the Bulgarian authorities into a series of similar incidents in recent years at arms depots housing ammunition meant to be exported to Ukraine. The probe is looking into potential ties between the blasts and Russia.
“We have taken absolutely all measures … to make sure that people are safe and that Bulgarian industry will not be affected by these kind of raids,” Bogdanov said according to the Dnevnik newspaper. The word ‘raids’ in Bulgarian suggests foreign incursions, although Bogdanov did not mention Russia by name.
The major fire that broke out at the warehouse in Karnobat was the second to occur there in less than a year.
Bulgaria has been exporting large quantities of ammunition to Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, but the Kremlin’s influence in Bulgaria continues to run deep.
The factory hit by fire belongs to a Bulgarian arms dealer, Emilian Gebrev, who survived a suspected poisoning with the Russian nerve agent novichok in Sofia in 2015.
After another fire took place at the same plant last year, Gebrev said he was “100 percent sure” Russian operatives were responsible.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe on Sunday, Gebrev said he did not know what could have caused the fire this time around.
Following this weekend’s incident, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov ordered a review of all — state-owned and private — arms factories in the country.
In a statement Monday, the interior ministry said no one was injured in the fire, adding that the area would remain sealed off for three days before the start of on-site investigations.