My poisoning was in 2015 and next year we will be 2025. I don't expect any developments on the investigation on the 10th anniversary either.
The state decides where we export. We may want to export something to Mars, but state gives the permission.
This was said in an interview with BGNES by the businessman in the arms industry Emilian Gebrev. He fell into a coma in 2015 after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, which was blamed on officers from the Russian military intelligence GRU.
"It was the first terrorist act in NATO and European Union countries. I have hope and live my life quite normally. The point is when a person commits something there should be a punishment," Gebrev said.
Asked whether he still sees a danger of such crimes in Bulgaria, he noted:
"There is still danger and no one is protected from it in any way - that is part of the war. It is quite normal to be attacked, but it is even more normal for a country to defend its facilities and its people. Moreover, we do not decide where to export - the state does. We might want to export something to Mars, but the state gives the permission."
The businessman also said that in 10 years there have been 10 terrorist attacks, but "there has been no result which is quite strange." According to him, only some noise is raised, but "in general nothing has been done."
Emilian Gebrev pointed out that he expects "something good" from the Bulgarian authorities, but is "moderately optimistic".
Between 2011 and 2020, blasts hit four warehouses and production facilities linked to Gebrev's company EMCO. Bulgarian prosecutors said there was a "reasonable assumption" that the four blasts were linked to the attempt to poison him.
Earlier this year, the Sofia City Court and the Sofia Court of Appeal authorised the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office to issue European arrest warrants against the six Russian nationals accused of terrorism in the country. According to the prosecutor's office, they blew up the four arms depots between 2011 and 2020. They contained products destined for Ukraine and Georgia. /BGNES
