Bulgarian MP: Russians use Hungary for money laundering

Deljan Dobrev, an MP of the Bulgarian centre-right GERB, said in an interview that Hungary is the target of high-value transactions via a Bulgarian bank. He has the same family name as Klára Dobrev, former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány’s wife. She is the shadow prime minister of the Democratic Coalition, Gyurcsány’s party. But probably the identical last name is just a coincidence though such allegations can be handy for the opposition. Dobrev is a common Bulgarian name, as e.g. Smith in the UK.

According to Mr Dobrev, Russian oligarchs conduct money laundering in a Bulgarian bank and send large amounts of cash to Hungary. The Bulgarian MP did not name the bank but said it is not Bulgarian. He did not reveal the persons or organisations taking part in the alleged money laundering scheme in Hungary.

Interestingly, there are 24 commercial banks in Bulgaria, most of them in foreign hands. The second biggest is DSK Bank, which is 99.92 percent owned by the Hungarian OTP Bank. They reacted immediately, clearing that they were not concerned about the money-laundering issue and follow strictly local and EU rules. The Bulgarian bank market has several other foreign stakeholders: Americans, Belgians, Estonians, French, Greek, Dutch, Irish, Japanese, Lichtenstein, German, Italian and Turkish.

The Bulgarian MP advocates for strict anti-corruption rules

The politician announced his party would submit a draft aiming to put an end to such money laundering schemes. They want the bank in question to halt such practices. Dobrev estimated that, in 2-3 weeks, their proposal will likely be accepted. That is because GERB, Mr Dobrev’s party, is a government coalition member.

Earlier, the International Investment Bank was concerned with NATO and EU allies. In 2018, the institution moved to Budapest, and its staff received diplomatic immunity from the parliament. As a result, the number of Russians doing espionage in or from Hungary could be raised since they could travel freely in the Schengen area, rtl.hu wrote.

The United States and other Western allies were concerned because of the IIB. On 12 April, David Pressman, the USA’s ambassador in Budapest, announced that they would sanction the three leaders of the bank, including a Hungarian national and the institution’s VP, Mr Imre Laszlóczki. The Hungarian government stated a day later that they would leave the IIB. As a result, the bank will move back to Russia soon.

Read also:

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• Could all of Budapest be bugged by Russians?