Five employees of Nexo crypto lender donated BGN 100,000 to “Democratic Bulgaria”

The probe into crypto lender Nexo caused serious tension in Bulgaria’s Parliament. It came from the question whether there are links between MPs and Nexo. On January 12, TV host, singer and politician, Slavi Trifonov, raised the hackles and said that Assen Vassilev, the co-chairman of "We Continue the Change", was close to the managers of Nexo and "went to their office every day to consult them". Trifonov also said that another MP of "We Continue the Change", Nastimir Ananiev, had common related companies with the investigated crypto lender.

Four charged in the case against crypto lender Nexo, witnesses seek protection

GERB party said that according to publicly availbale information, there are links between the crypto firm, Nastimir Ananiev and another MP from "We Continue the Change" - Alexander Rakshiev.

Has Nexo financed a political project in the country? The Nexo probe has echoed in the Parliament after information emerged that a current “We Continue the Change” MP, Nastimir Ananiev, is a partner with one of the bosses of the cryptocurrency firm under investigation. GERB is checking whether the party is funded by Nexo. Nastimir Ananiev has denied being a partner in the firm at the moment and denied that it funded "We Continue the Change".

GERB's position in this situation is that it is good to check whether "We Continue the Change" is funded by Nexo. They stated that for now they are only asking questions based on publicly available information.

"There are connections of a former MP and a current MP from “We Continue the Change” with Nexo. In one case the former MP Rakshiev is Nexo's representative for Plovdiv, in the other - Nastimir Ananiev, is a partner of one of Nexo's owners and at the same time a partner with a citizen of the Russian Federation in the company "Neftogaz". I was surprised by the latter and he should give an explanation of what the partnership was and what they were doing," said Toma Bikov of GERB.

In response, Nastimir Ananiev explained that after consulting a lawyer he would take legal action against any person who undermined his reputation and implicated him in non-existent scandals.

"Regarding Antoni Trenchev, most of you know, we were MPs together in the 43rd National Assembly, I know him from there, as well as Toma Bikov, Petar Nikolov, who are currently MPs from GERB. We had intentions for activities and joint projects, which unfortunately did not materialise. At the moment, I am not a partner with Antoni Trenchev, nor am I on the management bodies of any companies. GERB is apparently the new investigative body of the Prosecutor's office, perhaps after the closure of the Specialised Prosecutor's office, they are a new investigative unit," said Nastimir Ananiev.

Alexander Rakshiev, a former MP from "We Continue the Change", reacted with a Facebook post. He stated that he had worked for Nexo, but had never been a manager of the company and had never held a managerial position. He believes that the association of "We Continue the Change" with Nexo is completely untrue.

In the meantime, it has come to light that five employees from Nexo have donated 100,000 leva, 20,000 each to “Democratic Bulgaria”, and these have been reported to the Audit Office.

"Democratic Bulgaria receives donations from individuals. Every donation is public, declared in the Audit Office, passed through all legal procedures," Nadezhda Yordanova said.

Whether other political figures may be implicated in the scandal surrounding the Nexo investigation, it will become clear in the coming days.

Nexo crypto lender investigated for alleged large-scale financial fraud - chronology