Bulgarian Officials Probe Suspected Sabotage Following Fire at EMCO Arms Storage Depot

Bulgarian authorities have launched an in-depth investigation into a major fire that broke out at a weapons storage facility operated by the defense company EMCO, examining whether the incident was the result of deliberate sabotage or linked to an earlier explosion at another company-owned site.

The blaze occurred near the village of Tsareva Livada, sending massive plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky, as captured in footage broadcast by local media outlets. Emergency response teams managed to prevent any loss of life, and officials confirmed that no injuries were sustained during the incident.

The fire at Tsareva Livada represents the second significant incident to strike the arms manufacturer in recent weeks, following an explosion and subsequent fire that tore through another EMCO weapons depot located in western Bulgaria in August.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters on Saturday that emergency crews had brought the flames under control and that forensic teams and investigators were actively working to determine how the fire began.

Demerdzhiev noted that investigators are not limiting their inquiry to accidental causes, explaining that state agencies are actively evaluating past incidents across the domestic defense industry to identify any shared patterns or structural links.

According to the interior minister, investigators intend to cross-reference previous fires that have occurred at EMCO facilities and other weapons production sites, emphasizing that authorities have by no means ruled out the possibility of outside interference in this latest incident.

Following the minister’s remarks, EMCO released an official statement declaring that the blaze was an act of sabotage. The arms manufacturer pointed to a broader history of similar unexplained disasters affecting Bulgarian defense enterprises over the past decade and a half, though the company stopped short of naming specific suspects behind the latest incident.

Company representatives stressed that with more than ten comparable occurrences recorded across the domestic defense sector since 2011, there is no justifiable reason to treat the latest warehouse fire as an isolated accident rather than part of a coordinated pattern.

Slavcho Dimiev, the manager overseeing EMCO’s production operations, confirmed the occurrence of the fire at the site on Saturday, clarifying that the facility is primarily utilized to store ammunition stockpiles, including a limited inventory of medium-caliber munitions.

Alongside its sabotage claims, EMCO directed sharp criticism toward state law enforcement agencies, accusing authorities of failing to adequately secure critical defense infrastructure and protect strategic private enterprises.

The company pointed out that its Tsareva Livada warehouse had already undergone seven official security inspections since the beginning of the year, with the most recent state check occurring just 20 days prior to the blaze, while complaining that not a single investigation into the dozen past defense sector incidents has ever reached a decisive legal conclusion.

Demerdzhiev, however, voiced serious concerns regarding the overarching safety standards and protocols within the sector, specifically questioning the conditions under which explosive materials are maintained and the effectiveness of guarding measures deployed at private weapons depots.

EMCO is controlled by prominent Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, who has long been at the center of international security inquiries and who Bulgarian state prosecutors previously identified as the target of covert attacks orchestrated by foreign operatives.

In 2024, Bulgarian prosecutors issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens over their alleged roles in orchestrating the destruction of several EMCO arms depots between 2011 and 2020, which were housing munitions intended for export to Ukraine and Georgia.

At that time, prosecutors disclosed that investigators had uncovered credible grounds linking the series of depot explosions in Bulgaria to the 2015 attempted poisoning of Gebrev, as well as to deadly ammunition depot explosions that shook the Czech Republic in 2014.

The Russian government in Moscow has consistently dismissed all allegations regarding its involvement in depot blasts or targeted attacks across Europe.

The latest depot fire unfolds during a sensitive political period in Bulgaria, following the rise to power of Prime Minister Rumen Radev in April on a platform characterized by friendlier relations with the Kremlin.

The political shift has already impacted national security policy; in June, newly appointed Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov declared that Bulgaria would halt weapons shipments to Ukraine and urged both Kyiv and Moscow to engage in diplomatic negotiations to end the ongoing war.