A total of BGN 170 000 were stolen in the armed robbery targeting the UniCredit Bulbank branch located in the Lyulin 7 neighbourhood of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on Tuesday.

Initial estimates suggested that around BGN 1000 000 had been stolen.

In a statement on Wednesday, the bank assured that the branch is open and is operating as usual.

On Tuesday evening two masked and armed men entered the bank, threatening the staff and stealing several bags full of cash that had been prepared for transportation with a security van at the end of the workday.

Another two armed men reportedly waited for the robbers outside of the bank office. The four escaped on foot minutes before the arrival of the security van.

According to the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) citing its own sources, a fifth person was involved in the robbery, who was waiting in a car and drove the other four away after the robbery.

The police, which continues its work on the investigation, has not yet made any official statement regarding the claim that a fifth person was involved in the robbery.

The police is examining several versions but it is not excluded that the masked intruders have been provided with inside information.

The official statistics show that 2-3 banks are robbed in Bulgaria each year, with half of the cases solved by police.