7. ‘Good for the country’
A few hours later, we continue south on the motorboat across a calm sea. Perla is our destination. We navigate around Cape Maslen Nos, which juts out into the sea like an advanced sentinel. Five tall radio masts from a military observation post accompany a white lighthouse and a lookout tower. Due to underwater rocks, we keep a distance from the coast.
Perla is on the other side of the cape, nestled against the southern slope. This too was a former residence of the former party leader Zhivkov. However, the building stands empty. According to Ivan, Robert Maxwell (there he is again) was interested in the beautiful building, intended to become a hotel for the world’s wealthy. But Maxwell passed away just under a year ago. The media tycoon drowned on November 5, 1991, near Tenerife after falling overboard from his luxury yacht. The circumstances were never fully clarified.
After Maxwell’s death, his empire collapsed, revealing that he had withdrawn around 1.2 billion dollars from his companies, including from the pension fund of the publishing conglomerate, the Mirror Group. His name was also linked to the Mossad, the Israeli secret service. According to various sources, Maxwell, along with Zhivkov, was alleged to have set up a shady deal back in 1987 to plunder the Bulgarian treasury. The Bulgarian secret service, Darzhavna Sigurnost (DS), was also involved; the same service linked to the infamous ‘umbrella murder’ of Bulgarian writer and dissident Georgi Markov in London in 1978.
Money laundering and smuggling operations took place through foreign banks and companies. This was possible because the party elite in the second half of the 1980s, with Zhivkov’s approval, could establish private businesses for trading with the West and other regions.
There are numerous stories about the intertwining of the secret service, the business world, and organised crime. Even before 1989, the secret service controlled the illegal transit and smuggling of weapons, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, gold, silver, and antiques. Former Prime Minister Loekanov later denied the accusations to Radio Free Europe, which had appeared in publications such as The Guardian and The Financial Times. Both newspapers claimed to have evidence that Zhivkov, Loekanov, and former Politburo member Ognyan Doynov, with Maxwell’s assistance, smuggled around 2 billion dollars in foreign currency out of the country. The money was allegedly deposited in banks in Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, and used as startup capital by various mafia groups in Bulgaria.
Contrary to these allegations, former Prime Minister Loekanov praised Maxwell’s investment plans and stated that they were ‘good for the country’. (1) However, despite Maxwell and his business partners’ ‘good intentions’, there’s nothing to see of that in Perla on this day. It’s deserted. We need to refuel with diesel, but that seems impossible. Since we truly need fuel now, we sail on to the seaside town of Primorsko, a bit further south.
*
In the port of Primorsko, we’re looked at as if we’ve escaped the harsh reality. Diesel is available, but we’d have to carry two heavy jerry cans back and forth for two kilometres. We decide against it. The hunt for fuel seems illustrative of the shortages Bulgaria still grapples with. It shouldn’t be such a problem, according to Ivan. “But there are hardly any docks where you can refuel. In Kiten, our next destination, you can. Harbour masters or locals usually help fetch fuel. But it might take a day.”
Onward to Kiten then. The marina is the largest in southern Bulgaria. A few years ago, bungalow construction began, but the project wasn’t finished. Around the harbour lies another of Zhivkov’s former hunting areas, with bears and wolves.
As Ivan disembarks a bit later, we prepare to go ashore as well. But Ivan stops us, without much explanation. He’s not going to get diesel, that much is clear. “I have to do this alone. If someone comes along, it might cause problems.”
Maria shrugs. “He knows what he’s doing,” she says, as Ivan disappears between a few cars. He returns a few hours later. He doesn’t want to share much more than “it didn’t work out.”
In the evening, when we head to the village, we’re swarmed by clouds of mosquitoes. A shabby gypsy fair brings a bit of life to the scene. Tourists are scarce, especially from the West. The free market dominates the streets here too; scanty tables with some vegetables or occasional street vendors.
A young, entrepreneurial couple has turned a garage into a restaurant. Four tables stand on a driveway, eight tiles wide and ten tiles long. From the garage, they serve beer, wine, and spaghetti; cold strands with warm tomato sauce and a few meatballs. Amidst the mosquitoes, dinner becomes a concert of clinking cutlery and applauding hands.
The couple apologises, stating they’ve just started.