--- title: "Second in a month: fire breaks out at EMCO warehouse in Bulgaria, company blames sabotage" description: "In Bulgaria, near the village of Tsareva Livada, an EMCO ammunition warehouse caught fire overnight; no casualties were reported. The company declared it sabotage; this is the second such incident in a month, following the explosion near Belitsa on August 10." date: 2026-09-12T15:26:01.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/bulgaria-emco-warehouse-fire-sabotage tags: [bulgaria, emco, weapons-depot, sabotage, ammunition, emilian-gheorgiev, russia] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Second in a month: fire breaks out at EMCO warehouse in Bulgaria, company blames sabotage ![Bulgarian police officer at the scene of the EMCO warehouse fire investigation over alleged sabotage](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/12/bolgariya-sklad-emco-pozhar-sabotazh/bolgariya-sklad-emco-pozhar-sabotazh-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - Overnight fire at an EMCO warehouse near the village of Tsareva Livada; no casualties, investigation ongoing. - EMCO named sabotage as the cause, citing 10+ incidents at Bulgarian defense enterprises since 2011. - This is the second incident in a month: on August 10 an explosion at a military factory near Belitsa triggered evacuations and the activation of BG-ALERT. - In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens in the case of the destruction of EMCO warehouses; Moscow denies the allegations. In Bulgaria, near the village of Tsareva Livada, a fire broke out overnight at an ammunition warehouse operated by the company EMCO, reportedly illuminating the night sky over the area. No casualties were reported as a result of the incident. According to Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, the fire was brought under control, and the investigation is ongoing: prosecutors intend to examine previous cases of similar fires at the company's warehouses and at other facilities in order to establish any possible link between them. The incident occurred just weeks after an explosion and fire at another EMCO site in the west of the country, which, in the assessment of observers, makes the situation at Bulgaria's defense warehouses unusually tense. ### What was stored at the burned facility EMCO's production facilities manager Slavo Dimiev confirmed that the warehouse primarily stored ammunition, including a small quantity of medium-caliber cartridges. The company EMCO manages the assets of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev, who had previously publicly confirmed arms supplies to Ukraine. It is precisely this factor, according to analysts, that turns every incident at the company's warehouses into a matter of not only domestic but also international resonance. ### Sabotage theory and claims against the authorities EMCO subsequently stated outright that the fire was the result of sabotage, citing more than ten similar incidents at Bulgarian defense enterprises since 2011. The company did not name any suspects, but emphasized that it sees no reason to consider the current case an exception. EMCO also accused the authorities of being unable to properly protect defense facilities and noted that not a single investigation into more than ten such incidents has been completed to date, and that the warehouse itself had been inspected seven times since the beginning of the year — the last inspection taking place just 20 days before the fire. ### Context: the Gebrev case and the link to Russian operatives In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in the destruction of EMCO's ammunition warehouses between 2011 and 2020; the warehouses stored ammunition intended for export to Ukraine and Georgia. Prosecutors claimed a possible link between the explosions in Bulgaria, the 2015 attempted poisoning of Emilian Gebrev, and the 2014 explosions at ammunition warehouses in Vrbetice, Czech Republic — the same warehouses also stored Gebrev's ammunition. Moscow has consistently denied these allegations. ### Second incident in a month The current fire is already the second at Bulgarian weapons warehouses in a short period. On August 10, a powerful explosion rocked a military factory near the village of Belitsa in the Travno municipality: ammunition detonated there, and the fire spread into the surrounding forests. The authorities evacuated populated areas and activated the BG-ALERT warning system. The recurrence of such events within a single month strengthens questions about the state of security and control at the country's defense facilities. ### Contradictory data The original sources contain an inconsistency in the description of the preceding incident. On the one hand, it is stated that the fire in Tsareva Livada occurred "a few weeks after an explosion and fire at another EMCO weapons warehouse in western Bulgaria." On the other hand — the incident described as the second in a month is the August 10 explosion at the military factory near the village of Belitsa (Travno municipality). It is unclear whether the "western Bulgarian EMCO warehouse" and the "military factory near Belitsa" are the same facility or two separate events; this is not distinguished in the open data. Moreover, the name of the village is spelled differently in various formulations (Tsareva Livada / Tsarevaya Livada), and the exact date of the current fire is not explicitly recorded in the sources — it is inferred from the publication date (September 12, 2026). Until the investigation is completed, both versions remain parallel. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Weapons warehouse burns again in Bulgaria: company declares sabotage](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/bolgariyi-znovu-zgoriv-sklad-zbroyi-kompaniya-1789226619.html) - Подтверждает факт пожара, заявление EMCO о саботаже и контекст дела Гебрева. - [Explosion at a weapons warehouse in Bulgaria: a major fire breaks out](https://esp.md/ru/sobytiya/2026/09/12/v-bolgarii-proizoshyol-vzryv-na-sklade-oruzhiya-nachalsya-silnyy-pozhar) - Датирует событие 12.09.2026, подтверждает взрыв/пожар на складе. - [Warehouse of a weapons supplier to Ukraine explodes for the second time in a month in Bulgaria](https://noi.md/ru/v-mire/v-bolgarii-vtoroj-raz-za-mesyac-vzorvalsya-sklad-postavshhika-oruzhiya-ukraine) - Подтверждает связь EMCO с поставками Украине и статус «второй за месяц». - [URGENT: Second explosion at weapons warehouses](https://todaypress.tv/ru/v-mire/son-deqiqe-silah-anbarlarinda-ikici-partlayis-oldu) - Подтверждает повторный характер инцидента на складах оружия. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: Are there any casualties after the fire at the EMCO warehouse? **A:** No, according to the publication and official statements, no casualties were recorded as a result of the incident. ### Q: What, according to the company, caused the fire? **A:** EMCO stated that the fire was the result of sabotage, citing more than ten similar incidents at Bulgarian defense enterprises since 2011. The company did not name any suspects. ### Q: Is the incident linked to previous explosions at the warehouses? **A:** At the Interior Ministry's direction, the investigation is examining previous cases of similar fires at the company's warehouses and at other facilities to establish any possible link. In 2024, Bulgaria brought charges against six Russian citizens over the destruction of EMCO warehouses, which Moscow denied.