A worker sitting amidst the rubble at the Port of Beirut, June 27, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Justice Minister Adel Nassar on Monday signed an extradition request from Bulgaria for Russian national Igor Grechushkin, identified by Lebanese authorities as the owner of the vessel Rhosus, and transferred the file to the Foreign Ministry, according to local media reports.
The Rhosus carried and unloaded in 2014 the ammonium nitrate that triggered the deadly double explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020.
Grechushkin was arrested Sept. 5 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Justice Ministry held talks with Bulgarian Ambassador Venelin Lazarov on the matter. Preparation of the extradition request began last week by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Cassation, after it was notified through Interpol of Grechushkin’s arrest.
He is wanted under an arrest warrant issued in 2020 by investigating judge Fadi Sawan, before Sawan was replaced by Tarek Bitar to lead the Beirut port investigation.
Tasked with transmitting the file to Bulgarian authorities through the Foreign Ministry, Nassar told L’Orient-Le Jour he planned to contact Foreign Minister Joe Rajji promptly.
Nassar also said he met Thursday with the Bulgarian ambassador for “a quick follow-up” on the case, in the presence of Deputy General Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Myrna Kallas. The ambassador was described as “cooperative” and called the matter “a priority,” according to Nassar.
While Lebanese authorities have designated Grechushkin as the presumed owner of the vessel that carried the ammonium nitrate, press investigations have identified him instead as the ship’s charterer, saying the real owner was Cypriot national Charalambos Manoli.
The Beirut blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, was caused by a fire in a warehouse where ammonium nitrate had been stored without proper safety precautions despite repeated warnings to top officials. The cargo of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate arrived at Beirut’s port in November 2013. Port authorities stored it in a dilapidated warehouse, according to officials, while the Rhosus — flying a Moldovan flag and immobilized after legal action against the owner — sank in the port in 2018. The explosion killed more than 235 people, injured 6,500 and destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital.
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