TIM is an

organized crime syndicate Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

incorporated as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

based in

Varna, Bulgaria Varna ( bg, Варна, ) is the third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, the city has been a maj ...

. The company is controlled by three veterans of an elite communist-era military unit: Tihomir Mitev, Ivo Kamenov, and Marin Mitev. The abbreviation TIM stands for the first letters of each of the owners' first names. According to a

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other natio ...

cable leaked to the media by

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

, TIM has been engaged in organized criminal activities. As chronicled by German journalist Jan Puhl in an article for Der Spiegel, TIM started out as a private security firm in 1990s, whose starting capital was acquired through smuggling, prostitution, gambling, car theft, and drug trafficking. Subsequently, TIM invested its money in various legal ventures and grew into a holding company employing over 30,000 people, making it the largest and most influential employer in Varna.Jan Puhl
''Bulgarien - In Flammen''
Der Spiegel, issue no 19, 2013-5-6, pp. 86-88

References

Notes

*Betty Ganeva
''Pik-Dame und ihre erste private Stadt''
Bulgarisches Wirtschaftsblatt, 2012-12-3
''Bulgarian who set himself on fire new symbol of protests''
Agence France-Presse, 2013-3-5
Holding companies of Bulgaria Organized crime groups in Bulgaria Economy of Varna, Bulgaria {{bulgaria-stub