Multigroup was a

business conglomerate A conglomerate () is a multi-industry company – i.e., a combination of multiple business entities operating in entirely different industries under one corporate group, usually involving a parent company and many subsidiaries. Conglomerates ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. Its founder is the Bulgarian businessman

Iliya Pavlov Iliya Pavlov Naydenov ( bg, Илия Павлов Найденов; August 6, 1960 – March 7, 2003) was a Bulgarian businessman. A banker, financier, philanthropist and reputed Bulgarian mafia boss, he was the leader and founder of the Multi ...

, who was its leader until his assassination on March 7, 2003. In 1995, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Ljubomir Frckoski Lubomir, Lyubomir, Lyubomyr, Lubomír, Ľubomír, or Ljubomir is a Slavic given name meaning lub (love) and mir (peace, world). Feminine forms are: Lubomira and Ljubica. Nicknames Lubor, Luboš, Luborek, Lubošek, Borek, Lubo, Ľubo, Ljubo, ...

publicly claimed that "a powerful multinational company from neighboring country" was behind the assassination attempt of Kiro Gligorov on 3 October 1995, with the Macedonian media pointing at Multigroup as a suspect. After a meeting of Iliya Pavlov and Gligorov in

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

, Pavlov assured the then-

President of the Republic of Macedonia The President of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Претседател на Република Северна Македонија; sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the head of state of North Macedonia. The off ...

that this was false. All investigations were futile.

References

Conglomerate companies of Bulgaria Organized crime groups in Bulgaria {{europe-company-stub