About us · A message from the Managing Director · updated October 2026
Vitaliy Ivanovich Pepelyashkov
Managing Director of VOTCHINA · Lawyer by training, 6 years of practice in law enforcement · over 2,600 properties checked
"I founded VOTCHINA because I had been both a buyer with no protection and a broker with no rules. I don't want any of my clients or colleagues to go through that."
In short
I am the Managing Director of VOTCHINA, a real estate agency in Varna, Bulgaria. I started as a broker in 2010 and founded the agency on 23 February 2011. Today I am building VOTCHINA as a system in which every transaction goes through a written contract and a document check, and our fee is paid at the notary, once the deal is done.
Have a question you would like to ask me personally? Write to me, this is my own number.
Message me on WhatsAppWe moved to Bulgaria with my wife and our small child. Like many newcomers, we started from scratch. My wife worked, while I sorted out my residence documents and sent out 20 to 30 CVs a day. I applied first for jobs in my field, then more and more widely: sales representative, security, whatever there was.
One day I was coming back by train from Ruse. In the noisy corridor of the carriage my phone rang and I was invited to an interview. Because of the noise I heard neither the company name nor the position. The next day I put on a jacket and went. It turned out to be a real estate agency.
I was sceptical: I saw myself as a lawyer, not a salesman. I got through the first round among five or six candidates, then the second. In the end the manager chose me. I asked him why. "Because there was an unusual line in your CV, and it made me curious," he said. I have been in this business ever since.
Back in Izmail, where we lived before, we tried to buy a flat. The sellers pulled out at the last moment, and I spent two months fighting to get my holding deposit back. I did get it back, but with difficulty. For a family with little money, it was a serious sum.
That is why with us a holding deposit is only paid against a written document that states in advance when and how it is returned. A buyer should never have to chase their own money.
In my first months at the agency I was already working at property exhibitions in Moscow. The exhibitions lasted two days. Money was tight for us and I did not leave the stand: while my colleagues went for lunch, I talked to people. They collected 10 to 15 contacts a day, I collected between 60 and 100. Around 200 conversations in two days. That is how I learned the most important thing in this profession: listen to what a person is looking for, instead of selling them whatever you have. By the end of 2010 I was on my feet.
My first year in the business taught me a lot. I also saw how you should not treat either the client or your own team. I decided to build an agency where the rules are clear.
On 23 February 2011 I founded my own agency with one goal: the rules must be clear and written down in advance, for the client and for the broker. Even then our website said that we sign a contract with the buyer covering services and compensations, and that we take the buyer all the way to registration of the property with the Registry Agency and the tax office. This principle has not changed.
From the archive
I come from Novi Troyani, a village in Bessarabia founded by Bulgarians who fled Ottoman rule. Our family has two nicknames: "Banker" and "Taralezhi", the Hedgehogs. In the village I am known as the son of Ivan the Hedgehog. Why we are the "Hedgehogs" I don't know myself, but the nickname has been passed down for nine generations.
That is why the VOTCHINA logo shows a hedgehog carrying a building, a fir tree and a church on its back: home, roots and faith. A hedgehog never attacks, but it knows how to protect what is its own. That is how we want to protect our clients: quietly, without fuss, but with care for every document.
Over the years we ran seminars and viewing trips from start to finish: from the advertising and the venue to the coach and the hotel. I write about those years in more detail in the history of the company.
Today I leave more and more of the day-to-day work with clients to our brokers, and focus on growing the agency as a system that does not depend on one person: working standards, contracts, selecting and training brokers, document control. Contracts and document checks go through me. My legal education and the years in law enforcement taught me to see the risk in documents before the deal, not after it.
I am a father of four, and three of my children were born in Bulgaria. I know what it is like to look for a home for your family in a new country. That is why I look at every property as if I were buying it for my own family.
| Principle | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Contract before the viewing | You know in advance what we do and when you pay. You can see the draft before the meeting. General Terms |
| Checks before the deposit | We check ownership and encumbrances before you pay any money. Property check before a deposit |
| Payment at the notary | The buyer pays our fee on the day of the deal, at the notary. If payment under the deal is spread over more than 3 months, half is paid at the preliminary contract. If the deal falls through because of the seller or the property, you owe nothing. How we buy with VOTCHINA |
| A realistic price for sellers | The price is based on transactions and comparables, not on wishes. Free market analysis |
| Public reviews | We do not write reviews on behalf of clients. Read them on Google and on our Reviews page. |
The table summarises the terms briefly. In case of any difference, the signed contract and the General Terms prevail.
Vitaliy Pepelyashkov
Managing Director of VOTCHINA
"The case was quite complicated, with missing documentation for the flat. Vitaliy and his team took care of everything. All I had to do was sign a preliminary contract, a power of attorney and the documents at the notary."
Bozhimir A., 2023, Google review (translated from Bulgarian)
"For two years we tried unsuccessfully to sell our property. Vitaliy and Nikolay sold it in two months to the right buyer."
Iris R., 2026, Google review (translated from German)
All reviews: Reviews page and our Google profile.
Yes. The number +359 876 111 535 is mine and I read WhatsApp messages myself. A broker handles the day-to-day work on your property, but for a complex case or a complaint, write to me directly.
The broker collects the documents, and I analyse them and prepare the contracts. In complex cases we work with a partner law firm, whose services are agreed separately. Unlike in the UK, in Bulgaria the title deed is executed and checked by a notary and hiring a solicitor is not mandatory, which is why we check the documents ourselves before any deposit is paid.
The agency was founded on 23 February 2011 in Varna. I have worked as a broker since 2010. I tell the story of how we developed over the years in the history of the company.
Write to me directly
If something in our work did not meet your expectations, or you would like advice on a difficult case, write or call. I read the messages myself.
WhatsApp +359 876 111 535 office@votchina.euThe VOTCHINA brand
VOTCHINA is the trade name used by:
Office: 24-B Knyaginya Maria Luiza Blvd, floor 3, office 13, Varna, Bulgaria
More about us: Company history · Our team · Exhibitions and diplomas
