site.btaUPDATED Kintex Board of Directors Replaced by Order of Economy Minister Ninova

Bulgarian Economy and Industry Minister Korneliya Ninova has ordered a replacement of the Board of Directors of state-owned military equipment supplier Kintex EAD, Ninova's Ministry here said in a press release on Monday.

The move comes after the Ministry's inspectorate checked the operation of the company in 2021 and found a number of irregularities and a manifest conflict of interest involving Executive Director Alexander Mihailov. The inspectorate's report has been referred to the prosecution service and to the Public Financial Inspection Agency.

Later in the day, Mihailov issued a position to the media arguing that he had never been and was not in a conflict of interest. He insists that the inspectorate's report be made public and blames business interests for his dismissal. The former CEO said he had written four reports addressed to the Economy and Industry Minister over the last three months, detailing the processes, problems and prospects in the company and asking for an appointment with Ninova, which was not held. 

According to https://afera.bg, in 2021 Mihailov, who was previously executive director of the Bulgarian Industrial Engineering and Management (BIEM), facilitated the award to the privately owned company of exclusive rights to export the products of VMZ Sopot to Egypt for five years at the expense of state-owned Kintex.

It transpired in January 2022 that Mihailov was managing director and majority owner of Inter Commerce Consult OOD and sole owner of Lin Asset EOOD, which, too, are involved in the arms trade. After the publications Mihailov left the boards of directors of both companies, www.mediapool.bg reports.

Mihailov also headed Kintex in March 2019, when the company was investigated by the Specialized Prosecution Office and the State Agency for National Security on suspicion of mismanagement that inflicted losses amounting to millions, as then deputy prosecutor general Ivan Geshev put it. Information on how this investigation was completed and whether it is still in progress is not publicly available, mediapool said. 

Kintex was established in 1966. It supplies armament and ammunition. surveillance, localization and communication equipment, spare parts for armament systems, tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters and aircraft and provides training activities and devices, system engineering, project management, technical assistance and technology transfer.