Abou et le cas du yaourt bulgare (003)
dinsdag 6 januari-2009
Nee, nog geen Panfluit gehoord van de heer Aboutaam op ons keurige briefje van 3 januari. Druk misschien. Of hij drukt zich. Kan ook. Want dat kunstje met zijn Bulgaarse brother in crime Vassil Bojkov of ook wel Bozhkov was uiteraard niet bedoeld voor de pers. Dus gooien we er nog maar een mailtje tegenaan aan. Kijken of we hem uit zijn hok kunnen krijgen.
Dear mr. Aboutaam,
We regret that we didn't get any answer on our mail so far, but at the same time it gives us the opportunity to add some questions to our original ones. For example:
Did you apply any due diligence in the case of mr. Bozhkov? Or did you consider the fact that he owned a private jet enough proof of his reliability? The latter would have been a serious mistake in our opinion because mr. Bozhkov's reputation is not quite without contamination.
Allow us to quote the article "Bulgaria plagued by grave robbers" from the German magazine Der Spiegel dd. 21/12/2007:
"...According to a new study conducted by the Bulgarian Center for the Study of Democracy as many as 250.000 people may be involved in illegal racketeering. Some are even brazen enough to put their pieces on show. The most controversial is casino king Vassil Bozhkov, 51, nicknamed "the Skull", who in addition to countless gambling houses in Sofia [and Kosovo of all places!!, ed. KM], also runs the popular betting agency Eurofootball. He has already survived one assassination attempt, while one of his closest business partners was killed by an gunman.
In his private life, the millionaire indulges in an very specialized passion: he has collected hundreds of Roman, Greek and Thracian works of art and his coin collection is one of the most extensive in the country.
To coincide with Bulgaria's admission into the EU, Bozhkov was invited to exhibit a number of examples of his collection in the EU Parliament in Brussels [named "the Grandeur of Bulgaria", ed. KM]; he even obtained funding for the exhibition from the Bulgarian Culture Ministry. In the eyes of Vassil Nikolov, the Bozhkov exhibition was the "fruit of grave robbing". Nikolov was not only the long-time director of the Institute of Archaeology and Museum in Sofia, but was also president of the state committee responsible for every single archaeological dig that took place in the country. Without his signature, not even the smallest shovelful of historical earth could be moved - or at least not officially.
But unofficially is another story: "There is not a single dig site or historical monument in the country", says Nikolov, "that has never been looted".
Heavy, isn't it? But what to think of the next quote from an article of the MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research:
"...Smilian Todorov, cultural anthropologist at the South Western University in Blagroevad, says he has given up distinguishing between looters, collectors and archaeologists. The separation between the groups is blurred, with collectors like Ivanov having shown his collection and paying rent to the National Archaeological Museum, and Bozhkov OPENLY ADMITTING HE BUYS RECENTLY LOOTED MATERIAL, BUT ARGUING THAT HE IS SAVING BULGARIA'S CULTURE".
And there is more, much more doubtful material on mr. Bozhkov, who knew to whisk you off with his private jet when the Bulgarian soil became too hot under your feet. So would you be so kind to explain why you tried to do business with this tainted Bulgarian collector, while you cry out your innocence as to your own Egyptian case?
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation,
Jan Portein
Editor Kleintje Muurkrant
Den Bosch The Netherlands"
Of onze Libanese vriend nou antwoordt of niet, we zijn nog niet klaar met hem. En met meneer Bozhkov ook niet. Hamvraag is natuurlijk waarom dit koningskoppel zoveel hulp kreeg van diplomatieke en juridische zijde toen Abou achter de Bulgaarse tralies zeilde. Blijven we nog wel even aan kluiven. Stay tuned