site.btaNo Information Received by Bulgarian Institutions about Compensations Wanted for Damaged Baltic Sea Cable - Foreign Minister

No official information has been received by the Bulgarian institutions regarding compensations demanded for the damaged fiber-optic cable in the Baltic Sea, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev told journalists on Thursday. He was asked to comment on  information that Latvia and Sweden will demand compensations for the underwater communications cable between the two countries that was disrupted on January 26.

On February 3, the Swedish authorities released the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier Vezhen, owned by the Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar, which had been detained on suspicion of sabotaging the cable. The investigation determined that the cable disruption was caused by a combination of weather conditions, equipment deficiencies, and the crew's navigational skills, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said as quoted by Reuters. 

"Bulgaria could not be involved and is not involved in any type of risk of a scandal related to financial or other compensations, at least because Bulgaria has never been a party to any such possible issues, has never been implicated," Georgiev said on Thursday.

The Bulgarian side has no involvement in this matter, it has never been held responsible, it has never been accused, it has never been the subject of any comment by the Swedish or Latvian authorities, the Minister underscored.

"For the Foreign Ministry, the issue ended when the ship sailed off and with our assurance that the Bulgarian citizens are well and free, no charges have been brought against them and, as the Swedish prosecution service said, 'the suspicions of sabotage have been dropped'. What has been announced as possible reasons for the disruption of the infrastructure in question are weather conditions combined with technical problems," the Minister said.