Bulgarian Officials Launch Sabotage Probe Following Fire at EMCO Ammunition Facility

Bulgarian authorities have initiated a comprehensive inquiry into a major fire that broke out at a weapons storage depot operated by the defense company EMCO. The investigation is examining all potential factors behind the incident, with officials explicitly refusing to rule out external sabotage or links to a previous blaze that struck another of the manufacturer’s sites just weeks earlier.

The blaze occurred near the village of Tsareva Livada, producing intense fire and heavy smoke that illuminated the night sky in footage broadcast by local media outlets. Emergency response teams managed to prevent casualties, and state officials confirmed that no injuries were sustained by facility personnel or surrounding residents during the emergency.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev addressed the situation publicly, announcing that emergency crews had brought the flames under control and that forensic specialists were actively examining the scene. He confirmed that investigators are exploring multiple avenues regarding how the blaze began, emphasizing that state security services are maintaining an open inquiry into whether hostile actors played a role.

The incident marks the second major emergency involving EMCO infrastructure within a matter of weeks, following an explosion and subsequent fire that damaged another company-owned weapons depot situated in western Bulgaria during the month of August. The rapid recurrence of such disasters at the same firm has significantly heightened concerns among national security officials.

Demerdzhiev stated that investigators would conduct a thorough review of past fires and explosions that have occurred across EMCO warehouses, as well as facilities belonging to other arms manufacturers throughout Bulgaria. The goal of this comparative analysis, the minister noted, is to determine whether there is an identifiable pattern or common operational link connecting the series of disruptions across the domestic defense industry.

EMCO, for its part, released a formal statement attributing the destruction to deliberate sabotage. Company representatives insisted that the Tsareva Livada fire should not be viewed as an isolated accident, arguing that it represents the continuation of a long-standing campaign targeting Bulgarian arms manufacturers that encompasses more than ten similar occurrences recorded since 2011.

The defense firm also leveled sharp criticism at government authorities, accusing state law enforcement and intelligence agencies of failing to provide adequate protection for critical military production and storage sites. EMCO underscored that despite the extensive series of explosions and fires that have impacted the country's leading defense enterprises over the past fifteen years, not a single state investigation into these events has been brought to a conclusive resolution.

Addressing questions regarding site safety and regulatory compliance, EMCO pointed out that the affected Tsareva Livada facility had been formally inspected by state regulators seven times since the beginning of the year. Company officials highlighted that the most recent of these inspections took place just twenty days prior to the blaze, asserting that the warehouse was operating in full compliance with mandated safety standards.

Slavcho Dimiev, the production facilities manager for EMCO, confirmed the specifics of the storage site, noting that the warehouse was primarily utilized to store ammunition. Dimiev specified that the inventory housed within the damaged facility included a small reserve of medium-calibre rounds.

In response to the company's allegations, Demerdzhiev expressed governmental concern over the prevailing security measures and physical conditions under which hazardous explosives are stored across the nation's military industrial complex. The interior minister indicated that the methods used to guard such sensitive installations would undergo intense scrutiny as part of the broader state response.

EMCO is owned and operated by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, a prominent figure who has previously been identified by state prosecutors as the target of covert attacks carried out on Bulgarian soil. The safety of Gebrev's facilities and personnel has long been an issue of significant concern for national and international security agencies.

The latest fire comes against the backdrop of earlier criminal findings. In 2024, Bulgarian prosecutors issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens in connection with the destruction of several EMCO arms depots between 2011 and 2020. Those specific facilities had been housing munitions intended for export to Georgia and Ukraine, leading investigators to suspect state-sponsored interference designed to disrupt international arms shipments.

Bulgarian authorities previously stated that they had established credible grounds linking the historical depot explosions to an attempted poisoning of Gebrev in 2015, as well as a series of deadly munitions depot blasts that struck the Czech Republic in 2014. These coordinated assessments pointed toward a sustained covert campaign aimed at disrupting European defense supply chains.

The government in Moscow has consistently dismissed all accusations of involvement in the Bulgarian explosions, the Czech depot incidents, and the poisoning of Gebrev, rejecting claims of foreign operational sabotage as unfounded.

The warehouse fire occurs during a period of pronounced political shifts within Bulgaria, following the rise to power of Prime Minister Rumen Radev on a Kremlin-friendly platform. Tensions over foreign policy have further intensified since June, when Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov declared that Bulgaria would halt arms deliveries to Ukraine while urging both Moscow and Kyiv to engage in peace negotiations.