Today, August 10, 2026, shortly before 12:00, powerful explosions shook the ammunition production and storage base of the private company „EMKO“, located in the Tryavna village of Belitsa.
According to initial information provided by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev and the regional governor Kristina Sidorova, no workers were killed or injured. All nearly 300 employees from the plant were successfully and preventively evacuated in a timely manner, with the company providing their transportation outside the danger zone.
The Minister of the Interior indicated that the incident occurred in a work process and the causes were more likely internal. According to unofficial data and statements by the mayor of Tryavna Dencho Minev, the accident was provoked by a tanker truck caught fire, which was filling tanks with fuel. This led to ignition and subsequent explosions in one of the halls and ammunition warehouses.
At the moment, the fire in the affected production hall is already completely extinguished by the teams of the Regional Service “Fire Safety and Population Protection“ – Tryavna and the Regional Directorate – Gabrovo. However, the firefighting forces remain on the ground, as work is currently underway to localize and eliminate secondary fires that have spread in the forest area in the immediate vicinity of the unit. Due to smoke and the risk of gassing the area, the National System was activated BG-ALERT.
Emergency measures: Mobile laboratories and a cordoned off area
Due to the spread of thick smoke in a wide perimeter over the region, the municipal authorities announced that together with the teams of RIOSV - Veliko Tarnovo is placed mobile air quality measurement station in the town of Plachkovtsi. At the moment, the air quality in the area remains poor due to the smog. The call to the residents of Tryavna, Plachkovtsi and the surrounding settlements to close the windows of their homes and use protective masks outdoors remains in force.
The area around the enterprise has been completely cordoned off by gendarmerie and police forces, with checkpoints and access to outsiders is absolutely prohibited. The official detailed inspection by specialized sapper teams and DOTI will begin only after the mandatory technological window of 24 hours without detonations has expired. At the moment, the leading hypothesis of the Ministry of Internal Affairs categorically remains an internal technical incident.
What do we know about the weapons enterprise “EMKO“?
The plant in the village of Belitsa is owned by a company „EMKO“ Ltd., one of the largest private enterprises in the Bulgarian military-industrial complex.
- Purpose of activity: The company specializes in research, development and production activities in the field of the defense industry. The main focus is on the production of ammunition, artillery shells, grenade launcher rounds and other defense products.
- Ownership: The company was founded in 1992 and is fully controlled by the famous arms dealer and businessman Emilian Gebrev.
- Production and sales: The production of „EMKO“ is entirely export-oriented. Over the years, the company has made large-scale deliveries of ammunition and weapons to countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Georgia, and in more recent times its name is often associated with deliveries of defense products to Ukraine.
- Employees: The company's production facilities employ hundreds of specialists and workers from the region, with job security regularly tied to social stability in the municipalities.
At this time, there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Economy about the revocation or temporary freezing of the company's production and trade license. Since initial data indicate an accident with a vehicle, and not systemic violations in the technological line, experts predict that the license will not be revoked automatically. However, a full inspection of safety conditions will be ordered immediately after the completion of the investigative actions.
Who is Emilian Gebrev? Career, scandals and the Russian trail
Emilian Gebrev is among the most influential figures in the Bulgarian arms business since the beginning of the transition.
Professional path
Gebrev started his career in the structures of the state arms monopolist „Kintex“ during the socialist era. Immediately after the changes in 1989, he left the state-owned company and in 1992 founded his private company „EMKO“, with which he began a large-scale international trade in weapons and military products.
International supply scandals
Over the years, Gebrev's name has been in a number of international reports:
- US case (2001): US customs authorities seized a ship carrying over 30 million AK-47 rifle cartridges owned by his company and destined for Nicaragua (the cargo was later released).
- The case in Macedonia (2006): The authorities in our southwestern neighbor detained three Bulgarian trucks with MG-3 machine guns and mortars related to contracts with his company.
The mysterious poisoning in 2015.
The biggest international scandal surrounding Gebrev broke out in April 2015, when the arms dealer, his son and a senior employee of his company were admitted to a hospital in Sofia in critical condition with signs of severe poisoning. After lengthy investigations, it was established that a substance resembling the nerve agent “Novichok“ was used against them. The case was officially linked by international investigative bodies and the Bulgarian prosecutor's office to the activities of agents from the Russian military intelligence (GRU). Gebrev himself, in his interviews, defines the incident as a “joint operation between Bulgarian rulers and Russian interests“.
Chronology of explosions at “EMKO“ sites
Today's incident in Belitsa is far from the first in the businessman's assets. Over the past decade, a series of explosions have rocked his bases, with many of them being seriously suspected of foreign sabotage:
- November 2011: Explosion in warehouses near the village of Lovnidol, where shells intended for export to Georgia are stored.
- July 2022 and 2023: Consecutive explosions and large fires in the ammunition warehouses of “EMKO“ in the “Chobanov Dere“ area near Karnobat. At that time, Gebrev openly stated that the incidents were not an accident.
The current investigation by the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office into the explosion in Tryavna on August 10, 2026 continues, with the leading version for the time being remaining a purely technical accident during fuel overflow.