Russia Police Raid Bulgarian Diplomatic Premises over Pirate CDs

Thursday morning's raid of the Russian police on the Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow has been caused by suspicions for the production and sale of pirate CDs.

The police force came in order to search the commercial offices of the Bulgarian firm Millenium 2001 Ltc over doubts that it was involved in the production and sale of pirate CDs, the press center of the Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism reported.

The firm has a plant for the production of CDs in Zelenograd, which located 30 km away from the Moscow airport of Sheremetyevo.

The Russian investigators have told the Bulgarian Industrial Center that all other offices of the Millenium 2001 firm in Moscow had been searched and sealed, and that they had been investigating this case for four years.

The Economy Ministry states that the only connection it has with the Millenium 2001 firm is the fact that it is renting apartments at the residential building of the Center. It has expressed its willingness to continue working together with the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, the management of the Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow, and the Russian side for clarifying the case.

The Russian police have searched the apartment of Nikolay Marinov Nikolov, the representative of the Millenium 2001 firm. Nikolov has not been arrested.

Bulgaria’s Embassy in Moscow has protested orally before the Russian Foreign Ministry over the police raid since the Bulgarian Industrial Center is diplomatic property under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and should be searched only with a permission by the Ambassador.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has expressed its concern over the incident.