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Bulgarian gendarmes raiding in February the Spartak swimming pool in Bulgaria where the offices of notorious Aleksei Petrov, arrested during special operation "Octopus", were located. Photo by BGNES.
Uncertainty about its future hovers around Sofia's Spartak swimming pool a day before it is to be handed to the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior Saturday, reported the Bulgarian National Radio.
In May the Interior Ministry managed to reestablish ownership over the downtown Sofia sports complex and issued a notice on all firms operating in it to clear the facilities by July 24.
According to interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the complex was rented out and then rented again a number of times by its tenants since the early 1990s.
In addition to regaining the ownership of the complex, the Interior Ministry is claiming BGN 1.3 M from the firms and people that have been using the offices and facilities at the complex.
The facility had been, for a long time, associated with alleged ringleader Aleksei Petrov, who was arrested in February in a special police operation codenamed “Octopus.” Some of the main offices of the insurance company “Lev Ins,” which is also connected to Petrov are located inside the complex.
“Spartak” is notorious for being the place where ex Interior Minister, Rumen Petkov, met with two other alleged crime bosses – Angel Hristov and Plamen Galev, aka the Galevi Brothers. The affair led to Petkov’s resignation. Aleksei Petrov became a target of a failed attack on his life at the same location.
The firms registered with their head offices in the Spartak complex include the karate club Levski Spartak managed by Anton Petrov, aka the Hamster, the man who is believed to be the connection between two organized crime groups, the Octopus ring and the Impudent kidnappers’ gang, and a company owned by Aleksei Petrov’s right hand, Marchelo Dzholotov.
Apart from having an image associated with Bulgaria's top-tier criminal world, Spartak has been a favored place of recreation for many Sofia residents. It is seen as Sofia's premier indoor swimming pool and also has fitness and medical rehabilitation facilities.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Interior has not definitively made clear how it plans to use and manage Spartak.
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