site.btaBulgaria Arrests Russian Owner of Ship at Centre of Beirut Port Blast in 2020

A dual citizen of Russia and Cyprus, wanted by Interpol on a red notice at the request of Lebanese judicial authorities, was detained at Vasil Levski–Sofia Airport, the prosecution service said on its official website on Tuesday.

The Associated Press reports that the suspect is Igor Grechushkin, the Russian owner of a cargo ship linked to a cargo of ammonium nitrate at the centre of the massive Beirut port explosion in 2020, which killed at least 215 people, injured more than 6,000, and devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital, causing billions of dollars in damages. In 2020, a Lebanese investigative judge issued two arrest warrants through Interpol for him and the vessel's captain, Boris Prokoshev, also a Russian citizen. 

According to Bulgarian authorities, Grechushkin told border officials he had arrived in Bulgaria as a tourist. He landed in Sofia on September 5 on a flight from Paphos, Cyprus. During the routine border check, an Interpol red notice flagged him as internationally wanted.

Chief Inspector Zdravko Samuilov told BTA reporter Konstantin Kostov that Grechushkin was cooperative during the arrest, and nothing suspicious was found in his luggage.

The prosecution service has instructed the Sofia City Prosecution Office to carry out the extradition procedure under Bulgaria’s Extradition and European Arrest Warrant Act. The suspect has been provided with legal counsel and a interpreter, and a request for his provisional detention was submitted to the Sofia City Court. The court ordered Grechushkin's temporary detention for up to 40 days, a measure later upheld by the Sofia Appellate Court.

The prosecution service has notified both the Minister of Justice and the requesting country of the detention measure. During the 40-day period, Lebanese authorities are expected to submit the official extradition request, along with the necessary supporting documents and translations, in line with the bilateral extradition treaty between Bulgaria and Lebanon.