Full Breakdown
September 12 Fire and Explosions at EMCO Ammunition Depot in Central Bulgaria
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
On the night of September 12, an explosion ignited a fire at an EMCO-operated weapons storage site near the village of Tsareva Livada in the Gabrovo region. The blaze spread from one warehouse to adjacent ones, producing a series of explosions that illuminated the sky. Local police reported no injuries and said “at present there is no danger to the population.” Emergency crews brought the fire under control and the area was cordoned off.
Background & Context
EMCO, a private defence company run by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, supplies ammunition to Ukraine. Its facilities have been linked by prosecutors to a series of incidents attributed to Russian operatives, including a 2014 explosion in the Czech Republic and a 2015 poisoning of Gebrev and his associates. In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in attacks on EMCO depots that stored munitions for Ukraine and Georgia between 2011 and 2020.
The August 10 fire at another EMCO site near Belitsa was the first incident in a span of weeks and prompted a security review, though the cause remained undetermined.
Official Statements & Responses
- Kristina Sidorova, governor of the Gabrovo region, described the fire as moving “from warehouse to warehouse” and confirmed that employees were evacuated and the site secured.
- Local police emphasized public safety, stating there was no danger to nearby residents.
- EMCO asserted the September 12 incident was sabotage, rejecting human error, and noted that the affected warehouse had been idle for months and had passed a regulatory inspection 20 days earlier. The company cited multiple sabotage incidents at Bulgarian defence facilities since 2011.
Criticism & Opposition
Government officials framed any targeting of arms sites as an attack on national interest, not merely on a single company.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- Bulgarian authorities have not confirmed sabotage; the investigation remains open, with officials saying both external interference and internal safety failures are possible. No definitive forensic findings have been released, and the precise cause of the September 12 fire remains unresolved.
Verbatim Quotes
- “At present there is no danger to the population,” — local police
- “There is a neglect of the conditions under which explosives and ammunition are stored,” — Ivan Demerdzhiev, interior minister
What’s Next
The interior ministry has ordered inspections of all ammunition depots across Bulgaria to assess storage conditions and security arrangements. Prosecutors will continue the pre-trial investigation, interviewing witnesses and requesting documentation on the composition and movement of materials stored at the site. Findings from the ongoing forensic analysis are expected to determine whether the September 12 fire shares a technical, procedural, or external cause with the August 10 incident.