The importer of branded alcohol is involved in the illegal production, people from the sector claim. And criminal persona Vassil Ivanov Mihaylov, accused of kidnapping, robbery and extortion, is standing behind him.
A total of two classes of high school graduates were sent to toxicologies of several hospitals in Sofia with severe symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning. It all started with vomiting, losing consciousness, partial blindness and hallucinations that many of the graduates experienced during their ball. In the next couple of days symptoms got worse and that made them search for medical help. Seven graduates from the drunk party are with severe liver damage, which will be treated for life, their epicrisis says.
They all say they have drunk VIP vodka Montblanc that costs approximately 50 to 70 leva a bottle without VAT on wholesale. And when served in a pub or restaurant costs about 200 leva for a liter. The alcoholic drink is not quite popular in the market but vodka lovers from the whole world order it because of its analogy with the famous perfume and the high level of distillation and purity due to the first class French wheat and ice water from the Alps used for its creation.
However this is not the situation in the local market. Our sources from Customs Agency claim that because of the weak demand, no more than 2-3 trucks enter our country per year according to documents. According to data from marketing agencies such as AC Nielcen (cited by people in the industry), bar pubs use to sell the same amount to pretentious fools for about a month.
The great difference between import and real usage can be explained only with illegal manufacturing in some nameless distillery, cauldrons and garages that are not seen by vice premier Assen Vassilev’s people, Customs Agency and NRA.
Toxicologists from "Pirogov" explained that alcoholic manufactories like Tsar Kiro’s ones (may he rest in peace) are the main culprit for many poisonings, leading to blindness, jaundice, cirrhosis, dementia, paralysis and often death. This is because in the counterfeits of Mont Blanc vodka, and not only, the highly toxic methyl alcohol, burning alcohol, all kinds of poisonous fractions are widely used, and improvers and colorants contain the entire Mendeleev table.
Profits for smugglers commensurate with revenues from drugs and weapons, calculated by financial intelligence. The cost for 1 liter of counterfeit is 3-4 BGN, because they do not pay a penny in taxes. The selling price of the poisonous replica does not fall below BGN 20-30. Thus, criminal producers earn an average of BGN 20 from a bottle alone.
In an attempt to help the Customs Agency, our team followed in the footsteps of the fake Mont Blanc vodka. Former MoF officials have confirmed that the official importer of the famous tabular drink is Drink Imports Ltd., registered in the Hadji Dimitar district of Sofia in the name of a man who claimed to be a close relative and boss of a large chain of children's stores. . During tax audits, he often pointed out this kinship, alluding to the boss's thick ties to the top of the state.
Members of the National Vine and Wine Chamber, to whom we turned for advice on this hot topic, admitted that the name of "Drink Imports" is often on the blacklists of illegal and unfair alcohol players, which the industry provides to institutions with a request for verification and control. Of course, this never turns out to be the case, and the treasury relieves uncollected excise and VAT annually by hundreds of millions of levs.
A former employee of the tax administration admitted that some time ago there was a development linking the man in question with another smuggler and criminal named Vasil Ivanov Mihailov, owner of the unknown "VAMIH trading".
Investigators had found indisputable evidence that Mihailov, detained for beatings, kidnappings and financial fraud, was financing the import of Mont Blanc vodka, using a hypothetical relative with a chain of toy stores, as well as employees of an otherwise reputable distribution company representing well-known foreign brands.
He was found to be behind several "pots" spewing fake alcohol. Mihailov had ordered and paid cash to local producers from Stara Zagora to produce a total of 4 distillation columns, the capacity of which competed with several of the leading Bulgarian wineries, the summary said. Nobody knows where the facilities are installed, as the lawmakers did not consider it necessary to control the trade in such installations, which directly supply the gray sector. For the cover "VAMIH trading" appeared in the halva books of several owners of cauldrons as a buyer and seller of fruits for the production of ethyl alcohol. Moreover, without being registered as a farmer.
All these data led the investigators to think that the unknown to the general public Vasil Mihailov is a serious alcoholic boss, who, however, has not contributed a penny to the state treasury. On the other hand, he organized a strong illegal chain for the production of fake Mont Blanc vodka, which he sold through its official importer Drink Imports so as not to arouse suspicion among inspectors.
The most scandalous thing was that the development, which cost the operatives hundreds of sleepless nights, collected dust in a drawer at the behest of a mastitis senior official. Whether connections were used to cover up the scam or it was the result of bureaucratic incompetence, the story is silent. The fact is, however, that due to the wide-eyed eyes of tax and customs officials, more than 100 children are in the emergency room, and some are about to part with their lives due to ferocious alcohol poisoning. Because the dirty money of criminal elements like Vasil Mihailov can kill innocent people, literally. We hope that this time the authorities will do their job and break the line of the alcohol scam with Mont Blanc vodka. You will learn who Vasil Mihailov is and what other feats he became famous for in the underground in our next article.
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