Bulgarian MPs table bill to immobilize Russian assets

Bulgarian MPs Ivaylo Mirchev and Nadezhda Yordanova, representing the political party "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB), submitted to parliament a draft law seeking to freeze Russian properties owned by sanctioned individuals.

That’s according to Novinite, Ukrinform reports.

The legislation also outlines the return of the Kamchia recreational facility to state ownership. Developed against the backdrop of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the bill aims to ensure Bulgaria's compliance with international sanctions.

Mirchev emphasized the need to adopt specific legislation for Bulgaria to fulfill its obligations in implementing these restrictions.

Read also: Baltic states propose to include grain from Russia in EU sanctions package

The draft law also includes provisions for posting a list of sanctioned individuals on the MFA website to safeguard the rights of third parties.

The petitioners anticipate support from other parliamentary factions.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Asen Vassilev called on his counterparts in the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) to speed up the decision-making on utilizing immobilized Russian assets.

Bulgaria is the only country in the EU that has not imposed sanctions on any Russian citizen or entity from the EU sanctions list. Currently, Bulgaria has no domestic instruments for the implementation of sanctions introduced by the decisions of the UN Security Council or the EU. The most complicated issue is the legal application of Russia sanctions as Bulgarian legislation contains no such term as “asset freeze”.