Andrey Lukanov assassination: 30 years since the former Prime Minister's death

Thirty years have passed since the assassination of former Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov, who was shot dead outside his home in Sofia on October 2, 1996. The attacker, disguised as a beggar, used a Makarov pistol to kill Lukanov on the spot.

Investigations linked the weapon to the earlier killing of Ukrainian criminal Sergey Shanin. Following leads from the Shanin case, Ukrainian citizen Alexey Kichatov was detained. Kichatov initially confessed to involvement and identified Georgi Georgiev, known as Gope, as a participant. Gope, in turn, implicated his cousin, businessman Angel Vasilev, as the primary mastermind.

Vasilev, owner of the Colonel company and a member of the Orion economic circle closely tied to the government at the time, was accused by prosecutors of ordering the hit. The prosecution argued that Lukanov threatened the business interests of the Orion group. Other individuals charged included Gope and Yuri Lenev as intermediaries, Kichatov as an accomplice, and Alexander Rusov as the physical perpetrator.