Ammunition warehouse burns down in Bulgaria: Company claims sabotage
Photo: Bulgarian police (Getty Images)
A weapons warehouse belonging to EMCO caught fire near the village of Tsareva Livada in Bulgaria. The possible causes of the fire include sabotage and a connection to a previous fire at another facility, Reuters reports.
What is known about the fire
According to the outlet, the fire broke out near the village of Tsareva Livada and lit up the night sky. No one was injured. The incident occurred several weeks after an explosion and fire at another EMCO weapons warehouse in western Bulgaria.
Slavcho Dimiev, the company's production facilities manager, confirmed that the warehouse mainly stored ammunition, including a small quantity of medium-caliber rounds.
Sabotage theory
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the fire had been brought under control and that an investigation was underway. According to him, investigators will examine previous cases of similar fires at the company's warehouses and other facilities to determine whether there is a possible connection.
"We are not ruling out outside interference," the minister said.
EMCO later directly stated that the fire was the result of sabotage, citing more than 10 similar incidents at Bulgarian defense companies since 2011. The company did not name any suspects but stressed that it saw no reason to consider this case an exception.
Russia's trail
EMCO is run by Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev, whom prosecutors previously linked to attacks by Russian operatives on his facilities.
In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian nationals accused of involvement in the destruction of EMCO weapons warehouses between 2011 and 2020. The warehouses stored ammunition intended for export to Ukraine and Georgia.
Prosecutors at the time said there could be a link between the explosions in Bulgaria, the attempted poisoning of Gebrev in 2015, and the explosions at ammunition warehouses in Czechia in 2014. Moscow denied the allegations.
Criticism of the authorities
EMCO also accused the authorities of failing to properly protect defense facilities.
The company stressed that no investigation into more than 10 similar incidents has yet been completed, while the warehouse itself had been inspected seven times since the beginning of the year, with the latest inspection taking place 20 days ago.
This fire was already the second incident at Bulgarian weapons warehouses in a short period of time. On August 10, a powerful explosion occurred at a military plant near the village of Belitsa in the municipality of Tryavna. Ammunition detonated there, and the fire spread to nearby forests.
The authorities evacuated populated areas and activated the BG-ALERT warning system.
EMCO is owned by Bulgarian businessman Emilian Gebrev, who previously confirmed arms supplies to Ukraine. His ammunition was also stored at warehouses in Vrbetice, Czechia, which exploded in 2014. Gebrev himself nearly died after being poisoned in 2015, with Russian operatives suspected of involvement in both incidents.
