Owners of nightclubs in Sofia's Studentski Grad neighbourhood refused to be called "mutri" and asked to be included in the discussion on what can be done to improve the security situation in the neighbourhood, which is home for thousands of university students from all over Bulgaria, private national broadcaster bTV said on December 19 2008.

Mutri is Bulgarian slang for thick-necked mafia heavies, often driving black 4x4s.

Ever since 20-year-old medical student Stoyan Baltov was beaten to death on December 5 2008 by a group of drunk men after leaving a nightclub in the neighborhood, students have been asking for the night clubs to be shut down, increased police presence and ban on the sale of alcohol in the area. 

In total, there are 37 restaurants and 19 nightclubs working in the borough. On December 19 2008, some of the nightclub owners told bTV that they disagreed with students' calls of "Let's get all mutri out of Studentski Grad".  

"None of us is mutra. We are all normal people and the fact that we work at night and with students does not make us worse than other people," Kostadin Balabanov, owner of Dai-dai chalga club told bTV.

"As businessmen, we are all concerned with keeping students happy because they will come back again. Our goal is not for students to get beaten," nightclub owner Oleg Atanassov told bTV. Both said they had no information about drugs being sold in the borough.

They did not like the idea of closing down nightclubs or limiting their working hours, bTV said.

"We have a great desire to help the city hall and the police and all people concerned," Atanasov said. "We only want them to include us in any working group so that we can help them and be part of what is happening" he noted.

bTV quoted city hall chef architect Petar Dikov who said that the nightclub Amnesia, in front of which Baltov was killed, did not have its papers in order.

It was opened some 20 days ago and, according to, it paid just 200 leva a month in rent to the city hall. He also said that the nightclub owner had a permit to open two pavilions of a total of 40 sq m, but instead he build a solid building of 200 sq m operating as a nightclub. All those who have allowed this to happen will bear their responsibility, he said.