site.btaParliament Holds Hearing on 10-Year Ban on PFC Botev Owner Zingarevich

Sitting behind closed doors, Parliament held a hearing of the Chair of the State Agency for National Security, Plamen Tonchev, and State Intelligence Agency Chair Antoan Gechev on a 10-year ban on entry in Bulgaria for Anton Zingarevich, a Russian businessman and owner of Professional Football Club (PFC) Botev (Plovdiv).

The motion for the hearing on the entry ban against Zingarevich was submitted by MPs from BSP – United Left, There Is Such a People (TISP), Vazrazhdane, and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB).

Emerging from the hearing, Stanislav Balabanov MP (There Is Such a People) said that "for one-and-a-half hours they listened to speculations and suspicions with almost no facts to prove how dangerous Anton Zingarevich was to national security". "My suspicion is that he was dangerous because he is a Russian. We did not hear information about sanctions against him in other EU countries," said Balabanov.

The enforcement of an entry ban on Zingarevich transpired in an announcement by PFC Botev (Plovdiv). The club also announced at the end of December 2024 that its management met with MPs from various political parties to discuss the ban and the motives for it. Representatives from CC-DB, BSP – United Left, TISP, and Vazrazhdane attended the meeting.

"At the time, the MPs pledged to collaborate in finding a solution to clarify the situation with the club's majority owner," the announcement by PFC Botev (Plovdiv) concluded.