Thread by @BulgariaFixers

In #Bulgaria, Czech Republic-based investment company PPF Group, controlled by Petr Kellner, will acquire bTV, bTV Cinema, bTV Comedy, bTV Action, bTV Lady and Ring.

https://twitter.com/BulgariaFixers/status/1313690991078060032

Quick look back in time because the past two years saw interesting developments that provoke thoughts about drivers and motivations behind what is going on in #Bulgaria and its media markets, in particular:

1. Beginning of January 2019. Sweden's MTG terminated agreement to sell #Bulgarian unit Nova Broadcasting Group to Czech PPF after #Bulgaria watchdog blocked deal with extremely controversial ruling. 11 Jan 2019, sale process was reopened.

2. Developments later only proved #Bulgaria post-communist nomenclature's drive to strengthen local breed of “wild capitalism”, reserved mainly for and serving interests of indigenous oligarchs.

3. End February 2019. Swedish MTG sold #Bulgaria Nova Broadcasting Group to Advance Media Group = oligarch Kiril Domuschiev.

4. But Domuschiev is also great example that being oligarch for #Bulgaria govt is no easy job. In July 2018 general prosecution made move to open investigation a/st his firms. Kind of warning. Ever since, he has been tight-lipped, obedient to big bosses.

5. Domuschiev paid for #Bulgaria most popular Nova TV, 185 million euro - exactly amount Czech Republic-based investment company PPF Group, controlled by Petr Kellner, was to pay before being basically kicked out by Bulgarian state.

6. Domuschiev reportedly offered partnership to ousted bidder, Czech Republic-based PPF Group, controlled by Petr Kellner. Kellner declined.

7. In mid-April 2019 CSIS Europe Program and the Center for the Study of Democracy released “The Kremlin Playbook 2: The Enablers “. It builds on the first Kremlin Playbook, which described patterns of Russian economic influence in five Central and Eastern European countries.

8. The Kremlin Playbook 2 fourth case study concerns the Czech Republic, described both as target of malign Russian economic influence and emerging enabler. It also focuses on Petr Kellner.

9. The Kremlin Playbook 2 says: “The Czech Republic was indeed prominently featured in the Russian Laundromat, where 17 of the 21 main shell companies involved in the scheme sent money to Czech bank accounts.

These accounts appear to function as a pass-through to offshore accounts rather than be the actual recipients of funds. Large commercial lenders like PPF Bank, owned by Petr Kellner, reportedly hosted some of the Russian Laundromat accounts used for these transactions.

The banks collaborated with Czech financial investigators and did report these transactions as non-standard.”