site.btaBulgarian Prime Minister Confers with European Commissioner for Financial Stability

At a briefing here on Monday, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness will visit the Kapitan Andreevo border control checkpoint together with Finance Minister Assen Vassilev on Tuesday morning. Denkov described his meeting with McGuinness on Monday as a very fruitful and interesting discussion.

Part of the Commissioner's broad portfolio are the sanctions against Russia and their observation, so that topic was discussed at the meeting, Denkov specified. In his words, they talked like partners and focused mostly on how to strengthen that partnership so as to be even more useful in the prevention of all kinds of possible financial fraud.

Regarding the sanctions concerning Lukoil, the entire conservation was about how Bulgaria can join the common European efforts to avoid all opportunities for the sanctions' violation when it comes to both oil and oil products and dual-use goods, which unfortunately end up in the Russian army, Denkov explained. He said he and the European Commissioner discussed many practical steps to be useful in that fight.

Taking a question about Lukoil possibly circumventing the EU's embargo on Russian oil products, the Prime Minister said that all checks thus far show Lukoil has not violated a single EU regulation, Bulgarian law or customs ordinance. "Without there being clear evidence, I would prefer that both the media and politicians do not misuse such accusations," Denkov said. In his words, if a trace of a violation is found, the Government will be clear and transparent and will provide the information to the media. "There is circumvention of the sanctions, and that is not  a specific Bulgarian problem. This problem should be studied at the European level," he added.