Doynov was a Bulgarian Politburo member during the communist era who later worked for British media tycoon Robert Maxwell and served as an advisor to the Vienna-based company Nordex in the early post-Soviet period.
After the 1989–1990 transition to post-communism, Doynov moved to London and worked for Robert Maxwell for approximately one year, initially as an advisor on African affairs.
Allegations emerged in the mid-1990s in The Guardian, Financial Times, and Maxwell biographies including "Foreign Body" that Doynov, alongside Andrei Lukanov (Bulgaria's post-revolution Prime Minister) and Todor Zhivkov, helped transfer billions in Bulgarian state funds abroad to secret accounts in Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland during the regime's final years.
These reports suggested the use of "perfect channels" for hard currency outflows, potentially facilitated through Maxwell's financial and banking networks. Doynov denied knowledge of such transfers or Maxwell-related trade deals while in the Politburo.
After his year working for Maxwell in London, Doynov served as an advisor to Nordex, the Vienna-based Russian concern founded and headed by Grigori Luchansky and financed by commodities trader Marc Rich.
Nordex was heavily scrutinized throughout the 1990s for alleged money laundering, commodity trading in the post-Soviet space, and ties to organized crime networks, including overlaps with figures like Semion Mogilevich and broader Russian mafia operations. The company operated prominently in Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland—the same jurisdictions where Bulgarian state funds were allegedly secreted.
Sources
Mid-1990s reporting in The Guardian and Financial Times; Maxwell biographies including "Foreign Body"; investigative reports on Nordex and Grigory Luchansky; internal database entries on Robert Maxwell, Grigory Luchansky, and Sergei Tretyakov.