RHOSUSscrapped
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4612 days ago
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Owner of Rhosus released by Bulgarian authorities
Lebanon has been officially informed by Bulgaria of the decision to release the owner of the 'Rhosus', Igor Grechushkin, in a development that has brought the Beirut Port explosion file back to the forefront of judicial disappointments. Rather than Grechushkin’s arrest marking a breakthrough in the investigation, the entire process concluded with formal procedures added to a long record of obstacles and complexities. In Sep 2025, the Bulgarian authorities had arrested Grechushkin, based on an absentee arrest warrant issued by the Lebanese judiciary, which at the time was seen as a rare opportunity to reconnect the international dimension of the case. However, the process quickly became complicated, as Bulgaria refused to hand him over to Lebanon, citing concerns that he might face the death penalty. Despite the Lebanese state providing clear written assurances that no such penalty would be applied, the extradition decision remained pending, with Bulgaria ultimately agreeing to have him investigated on its own territory rather than being transferred to Beirut. In this context, the travel ban on the judicial investigator in the port explosion case, Judge Tarek Bitar, was lifted, allowing him to travel to Bulgaria in hopes of conducting an interrogation that could fill one of the most critical gaps in the file, related to the ship’s route, its cargo, and the entities aware of its destination and the fate of its materials. However, the effort quickly reached a dead end, as Grechushkin refused to answer any questions, forcing Bitar to return to Beirut without any meaningful progress. This outcome subsequently led Bulgarian authorities to decide to release him. The timeline indicated that the events did not go beyond the framework of formal procedures, allowing Bulgaria to justify its final refusal to hand over the detainee to Lebanon, without producing any genuine judicial cooperation to advance the investigation. This outcome negatively affected the progress of the indictment, which remained suspended amid a growing sense that the international aspect of the case was all but closed, or at least beyond the reach of the Lebanese judiciary. The Beirut Port explosion file, already burdened by obstacles since 2020, was now facing yet another judicial disappointment added to a long history of disruptions. No indictment decision has been issued, as Judge Bitar was still awaiting a ruling on the abuse-of-power lawsuit filed against him. Although Judge Habib Rizkallah, the investigator in the case, had issued a decision to dismiss the trial against Bitar, former Minister Ali Hassan Khalil appealed the ruling, leading to the referral of the file to the Indictment Panel for resolution—effectively freezing any decisive steps toward issuing the indictment. The release of the owner of the ship "Rhosus" and the dismissal of all charges against him died not undermine the investigation at its core, but they deepened doubts about the Lebanese judiciary's capacity to see this case through.
Russian owner of ship at the centre of Beirut port blast
Bulgaria has arrested Igor Grechushkin, the Russian owner of the 'Rhosus', which was at centre of the Beirut port blast that killed 218 people on Aug 4 2020, Lebanese judicial officials said on Sep 15, 2025. Grechushkin, who also has Cypriot nationality, was arrested last week at the Vasil Levski Sofia airport after arriving on a flight from Cyprus. The arrest came nearly five years after a Lebanese investigative judge issued two arrest warrants through Interpol for him and the vessel's captain, Boris Prokoshev, also a Russian national. The judicial officials said papers were being prepared requesting the transfer of Grechushkin to Lebanon for questioning. If Grechushkin is not handed over, Lebanese investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him there. Earlier this year, Lebanon elected President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and a Cabinet on a reformist platform who pledged to complete a probe. The disaster was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where a vast stockpile of industrial chemical ammonium nitrate had been haphazardly stored for years. Since its early days, the probe into the explosion has faced a slew of political and legal challenges. In December 2020, lead investigator Fadi Sawan charged former prime minister Hassan Diab and three ex-ministers with negligence. As political pressure mounted, Sawan was removed from the case.But investigative judge Tarek Bitar summoned senior political, judicial and security officials in July in a renewed push to close the case.
Sank in Beirut
Rhosus sank between 16.02-18.02.2018 picture: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/world/middleeast/lebanon-explosion-ship.html
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