Russian ship owner, linked to 2020 Beirut blast, arrested in Bulgaria

Igor Grechushkin, 48, was arrested at Sofia International Airport on September 6 upon arriving from the Cypriot city of Paphos.

Bulgarian authorities confirmed Tuesday they arrested a Russian ship owner wanted in Lebanon whose vessel is linked to a cargo of ammonium nitrate at the center of the massive 2020 port explosion in Beirut.

A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut. (AFP File)

Igor Grechushkin, 48, was arrested at Sofia International Airport on September 6 upon arriving from the Cypriot city of Paphos, according to Zdravko Samuilov, head of the border police at the airport in the Bulgarian capital.

Grechushkin, who holds a dual Russian-Cypriot citizenship, “did not resist arrest, cooperated, and nothing suspicious was found in his luggage,” the police chief said.

The arrest, which was first reported by Lebanese officials on Tuesday, was based on an Interpol red notice. Following a court order, Grechushkin was placed in detention for a maximum of 40 days, Samuilov said.

Bulgaria has also requested the necessary documents for Grechushkin before he can be extradited to Lebanon. A Lebanese investigative judge issued two arrest warrants through Interpol five years ago, one for Grechushkin and one for the vessel’s captain, Boris Prokoshev, also a Russian citizen.

No Lebanese official has been convicted in connection with the explosion.