Bulgaria eyes seizing Russia-owned resort on Black Sea coast

This was reported by Euractiv, Ukrinform saw.

The Kamchia resort is owned by the Moscow Municipal Property Department, but managed in Bulgaria by Bulgarian nationals who are not formally subject to EU sanctions. Ivaylo Mirchev, a member of parliament with the We Continue Changes - Democratic Bulgaria coalition, describes the resort as a Russian enclave on the Bulgarian coast that has been operating for more than 14 years.

“The legislative initiative is long overdue, especially given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. International sanctions against Russia have been in place since 2014, and new ones are being adopted in response to Russia’s unrelenting aggression,” Mirchev said, adding that in order for Bulgaria to fulfil its obligations to enforce international sanctions, parliament needs to pass a specific law.

Shortly before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, said that the Russian tourist center Kamchia could be used to spread Russian influence in Europe.

A week ago, Bulgarian media reported that Moscow’s property department had requested that the dchief of Russia’s oil giant Lukoil be appointed as director of the Kamchia center. Moscow's directive regarding the Kamchia resort came against the background of EU member states immobilizing and seizing Russian assets.

According to the latest figures published by the Bulgarian authorities in 2019, about 300,000 Russians own more than 500,000 properties in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is the only EU member state that has not imposed sanctions against any Russian individual or entity from the EU sanctions list, as the country formally has no tools to enforce sanctions as such.

Although the Bulgarian legal system only provides for the seizure of assets and not their freeze, EU countries such as Bulgaria must directly apply EU sanctions regulations, meaning that tax authorities should launch a freezing procedure even if no national regulation provides for it.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 11, Latvia’s parliament adopted legislation, which lays down the process of handing over a Riga-based Moscow House to state property.

Photo: Euractiv13