The Russian digital agency that ran the campaign for Călin Georgescu is connected to over 50 companies in Bulgaria owned by the same individual. Bulgarian lawmakers are calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate Russian influence.
Bulgarian lawmakers are seeking a parliamentary commission to investigate Russian influence, stated Ivailo Mircev, a member of the „We Continue Change – Democratic Bulgaria” party, to Euractiv.
The initiative comes following the discovery of a link between a group of companies in Bulgaria and a Russian influence network that operated in Romania during the annulled presidential elections.
"The Russian digital agency that led the campaign for the nationalist (Călin) Georgescu in Romania is connected to over 50 Bulgarian companies, most of them in the same industry, registered in the city of Plovdiv and owned by the same person," Mircev explained to Euractiv.
He added that Russian propaganda has been infiltrating Bulgaria for years, primarily through financing related to Kremlin-affiliated energy companies.
"In the context of dysfunctional services and institutions, we will discuss the possibility of creating a parliamentary investigative commission to gather evidence of Russia's influence in Bulgaria at all levels," added the Bulgarian lawmaker.
BG Elves, an online community of cybersecurity experts fighting disinformation that attempted to expose vote-buying networks in the October elections in Bulgaria, announced the discovery of a network of Bulgarian companies owned by a Georgian citizen linked to the spread of pro-Russian influence in Romania.
The network leads to a company registered in Bulgaria's second-largest city, Plovdiv.
The investigation by BG Elves in Bulgaria stemmed from a journalistic investigation conducted by Snoop.ro on December 3, which identified a key company connecting these networks. The company in question is registered at an address in Plovdiv.
"Following this Romanian journalistic investigation, we found 51 companies registered under the name of a Georgian citizen. Many were established on the same day, especially in 2024. We have official emails, Facebook profiles, phone numbers, and addresses of many employees from these companies. There are hundreds. And they are all Russians," BG Elves wrote without disclosing the names of the companies.
The investigative group urged Bulgarian journalists to focus on revealing the mechanisms through which Russian influence is exerted on social networks. According to the collected data, the core in Plovdiv generates hundreds of millions of views daily on social networks, having the most significant impact in Romania, Hungary, Greece, Bosnia, and Bulgaria.
Companies registered in Bulgaria are involved in extensive social media promotion campaigns.
"These Bulgarian companies, led by Russians, have significantly influenced the electoral results in Romania and Bulgaria, as well as across Europe," the organization claims.
"In this case, we see that the ideas from the content they promote through their channels reach, on average, every Bulgarian citizen up to ten times a month. However, since the content is targeted, we are effectively talking about bombarding certain population groups," explained BG Elves.
T.D.