By Stanimir Vuglenov

August 5, 2000, ten minutes past midnight. Police storm Room 341 of the Europe Hotel in Milan to find four luxurious escorts skirting a man in his fifties. Having been snitched into a drug spree, the cops get hold of 58 grams of superior quality cocaine.

A worthier find, however, turns 52-year-old Leonide Minin: an Israeli entrepreneur, born in Odessa, Ukraine. Officially, he’s in timber trade through companies registered in China, Liberia and Gibraltar. Off-the-record Minin is among the most-notable arms dealers, specializing in deliveries to embargo states. Long after his apprehension Italian police remain unaware of their catch due to the usual miscommunication between Special Services. Along with the Israeli ID, Minin held ex-Soviet, German and Bolivian passports. He went under many different names, among which Leon Minine, Igor Ossols and Leonide Bluvstein.

He had arrived in Italy from Sofia, where he stayed at the Atlantic Hotel.

The story above is part of an investigation into the worldwide arms trade, which took 2 years to carry through and which was published a few days ago by the Washington DC-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. ICIJ is one of the world’s most eminent journalistic organizations and the only one specialized in the world’s most aching topics, as drug and arms dealing and human trafficking.

A 24 Hours reporter visited the welcoming Atlantic Hotel, cozily tucked in the little streets of Simeonovo, at the outskirts of Mount Vitosha. The manager showed us the foreign guest register. Seven foreigners stayed at the Atlantic in July 2000, among which one Russian citizen. There was another guest with a Jewish name, though he presented a Bulgarian passport. According

to his credentials he was 20 years younger than Minin. Among the other seven names,

For the last decade only Teraton partially challenged the Kintex hegemony. The rest of the firms selling arms are simply in re-export: buying from the Ukraine or Belarus, and selling to Syria.

none was ever known to be used by the Ukrainian. It is possible that he was staying in Bulgaria with another, unknown passport. There are no records of which room a guest was staying in.

According to the ICIJ findings, in this calm Sofia neighborhood the Ukrainian was plotting a deal with tons of weapons worth over 3 million dollars. The delivery had to be transited via the Burgas airport, as shown in documents seized upon Minin’s arrest in Milan.

Minin was sentenced to two years in prison, though not for arms dealing, but possession of narcotics. The court investigation proved that the Ukrainian was a cocaine addict with a daily dose of 30 – 40 grams. Sustaining his habit cost him 1500 dollars per day. The prosecution found he had the means to afford such expenses. The investigation detected a 3 million-dollar bank account in his name.

The Ukrainian admitted to his addiction but fervently denied any involvement in arms dealing. However, UN experts researching his documentation, concluded that a few weeks prior to his arrest, Minin was preparing for a massive arms delivery to the embargoed Liberia via neighboring Ivory Coast. This is a frequently used scheme to bypass bans on special and dual use products. A very recent example, involving Bulgaria, was the export of dual-use engine reducers to Iraq via Syria.

In Minin’s case it was about tons of Ukrainian-made arms. The ICIJ investigation concluded that Minin was the liaison between the Moscow-based Aviatrend Company and high Ivory Coast officials. Among Minin’s seized documents there were copies of a purchase certificate in the name of Aviaternd CEO Valeriy Cerny, signed by Ivory Coast Head of State General Robert Gewey. An inventory list was also found, which was identical with the shipment certificate. A fax and a telex received by Minin at room 204 of the Atlantic hotel are particularly intriguing. The fax states the Burgas airport as a transit post for the shipment.

The term of delivery was also specified: within 30 days of receiving the payment. According to the fax the total cost of the cargo is USD 3,073,400. However, other bits of correspondence between Minin and Cerny reveal that Aviatrend was capable of delivering cargo worth between USD 910,000 and 1,071,350.

Italian prosecution has bank statements, verifying a bank transfer, ordered by Minin. He instructed his banker, Mr. Pesina of Banco di Lugano to transfer USD 850,000 to Cyprus Alpha Bank. The date of transaction was June 7, 2000 and the beneficiary – Aviatrend Ltd.

Given the term of delivery, specified in the Burgas fax, the shipment must have passed through Bulgaria between July 10^th – 15^th of 2000. Faxes exchanged by Aviatrend and Ivory Coast Defense Department suggest the same conclusion. Minin was copied to the correspondence at the Atlantic. A telex he received in room 204 notified him that an Antonov 124-100 aircraft listed UR82008 and owned by the Ukrainian "Antonov Design Bureau" was to deliver 113 tons of cargo from Kiev-based SpecTechnoExport. According to flight documents Captain Vitaliy Gorovenko was being accompanied by 18 Ukrainians, delivering the shipment to Ivory Coast Defense Department. The ICIJ investigation revealed sufficient clues that the cargo reached its destination.

On august 7^th, a month after Minin’s Bulgarian visit, the US Ambassador to the UN Richard Hallbrook alleged the Ukraine and Bulgaria as the main source of arms for the rebels in Sierra Leone. That’s one of Liberia’s neighbor nations, embargoed since 1998. Hallbrook meant arms deliveries, which took place in the winter and summer of 1998, when air shipments from Bulgaria and the Ukraine were delivered to the United Revolutionary Front of Sierra Leone. An Amnesty International report of June 2001 supports those findings. The ICIJ investigation provides no evidence as to whether arms were Bulgarian-made or just transited through.

November 28, 2002

By Stanimir Vuglenov

A few yards away from the Sofia locality, where Bulgaria’s ex-Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov was shot, two intriguing firms found a nestling place several months ago, 24 Hours reveals. They were registered in one and the same day, under Court entries 6673 and 6674, with the same address of residence at 9 Frederick J. Curie Street in Sofia’s Iztok area. Lukanov’s home and murder scene was on nearby Latinka Street. The sole owner and CEO of Nordic Ltd. and Rockman Ltd. is Sergey But, according to the Apis Corporate register.

Sergey But is brother to the World No 1 arms-dealer selling to embargo states, Victor But. The two companies were set up on July 31, 2002, and their registration was announced in the State Gazette I the beginning of this month.

In 1997 Sergey But got to own his first company in Bulgaria, acquiring 82% of Air Zori. Consequently, an Air Zori Il-18 aircraft transported a massive shipment of arms. It was a very strange deal as 13 tons of Bulgarian-made were delivered to the Pentagon. The cargo was consigned by one of But’s Bulgarian affiliates KAS Trading and was delivered to the US biggest military base in Europe – Ramstein, Germany.

24 Hours already reported in February of the US buying arms from Victor But, who is allegedly the world’s top arms-dealing kingpin. Earlier in February, the Belgian bureau of Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Victor But. As of the present moment the "Death Vendor", as nicknamed by the press, is still at large. His last public appearance was in March, when he was interviewed by the Moscow Echo radio station. As always, he fervently denied any involvement in arms dealing.

In truth, authorities in Belgium and other countries around the world have sufficient evidence of

to African embargo states. There are also facts of deliveries to the Taliban in Afghanistan, due to which American authorities consider Victor But the main provider of weapons to Al Qaeda. Belgian intelligence believe But has made a profit of 50 million US dollars through deals with the Taliban only.

The close relationship of several Bulgarian firms with Victor But is no secret. Owing to his negotiation, massive loads of Bulgarian-made arms were sold in Some of Africa’s most dubious regions, as well as other embargo destinations all over the world. Thanks to all that, Bulgaria was involved in a number of arms delivery scandals and the country’s NATO membership was repeatedly questioned.

His participation in the delivery of the Bulgarian mines was wholly confirmed by his ex-Air Zori associate Volodya Nachev. He claimed that the Il-18 they used to own was only used once for delivering arms – in the Pentagon deal. Insiders, however, believe that Air Zori delivered shipments to other countries, which may be of particular interest to the Special Services. Furthermore, for quite a long time Sergey But managed Chess Air, Victor But’s fleet based in the UAE. Aboard its aircraft weapons were delivered to virtually all of Africa’s hot zones, German, Belgian and US intelligence claim.

Some other facts, recovered by 24 Hours, may interest

In two different registrations of his first Bulgarian property – Air Zori – Sergey’s family name was entered in two different ways, But and Butt. His forename is Anatolyievich. He was registered as a citizen of the Russian Federation, ID # 76704. A well-informed source revealed that several months ago Sergey But repeatedly visited Bulgaria with at least two different Russian passports, a Moldovan and a Dutch ID. Official information on the But brothers says their father’s name is Anatolyievich. They were born in Tajikistan and hold Russian Federation passports. Victor But is known to have used credentials with different names, issued by different countries. Most often he used varieties of the Latin spelling of his family name – Boutov, Butt, But, Budd, Bout and Bouta. There were occasional variations of his personal name – Victor and Viktor. But has also used the names of Vadim Aminov and Victor Bulakine.

Brother Sergey also used similar trickery, including variants of his name such as Sergi, Sergo, Sergei, etc. However, in his two new Bulgarian firms – Nordic and Rockman – his middle name is Nikolayevich. He’s now a Ukrainian citizen, ID # CB039314. Unless it is all just a name coincidence.

It will hardly ever be found, as the address of residence of both of his new firms, actually accommodates a law office – C.A.B.A. Management Services. Their primary occupation is registering companies of foreign citizens.

24 Hours found that the law office is responsible for the enlistment of over 20 companies, all of which residing at the same address of 9 F.J. Curie Street. All were registered over the last few months. Although the building on that address is a four-story condo, none of the companies has an apartment number specified. The companies in question are owned by citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Israel, Tajikistan (where the But brothers were born), Uzbekistan, Australia, Armenia. All the companies have just one phone number listed in the Apis Corporate Register. A

answered our call: "Yes, it is our job to enlist foreign companies, having received all the necessary documents." The man on the phone didn’t think knowing their clients personally was essential. All they needed was a set of clean documents. It remains unclear how they made sure a client was not presenting a counterfeit ID. Law does not bind them too anyway.

The man on the phone introduced himself as Sergey Roshkov. Russian citizens Alexander and Irina Khapava own C.A.B.A. Management Services.

Who will take the responsibility, if the most notable arms dealer’s brother has set himself up with a couple of firms in Bulgaria? Given what he was up to with the previous one – Air Zori – what may be cooking up now?

December 4, 2002

By Stanimir Vuglenov