Last year the then Macedonian minister of internal affairs Lyubomir Frchkovski (who holds the post of the Macedonian foreign minister at present) speculated about the involvement of a "well-known multinational corporation based in a neighboring country" in the assassination attempt against President Gligorov in September of 1995. The daily Nova Makedoniya (which dominates the newspaper market in the country) specifically accused Multigroup, while Multigroup (although being controversial on other accounts in Bulgaria itself) denied any involvement. The accusations, even though not proven, continued to be spread in the Republic of Macedonia. They even found their way into the publication of National Geographic about that country. They were also allegedly used as an excuse for arrests and intimidation of Macedonians sympathizing with Bulgaria or openly declaring Bulgarian ethnicity.
