Bulgaria's position on imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation has always been to defend the national interest, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova during parliamentary control. She was responding to a question from Members of Parliament Hristo Gadjev and Georg Georgiev of GERB-UDF regarding the reasons for excluding Iskander Makhmudov from the EU's 21st sanctions package.
The MPs requested clarification as to whose proposal it was to remove Makhmudov from the list and which state interests were protected by this decision. In response, Petrova indicated that the state's position is formed through the opinions of competent authorities, and the decision was made following a meeting of the Coordination Mechanism for the Implementation of Sanctions to ensure the procedure was as formal as possible.
"Regarding the suggestion that imposing restrictions on Iskander Makhmudov as the owner of the Transmashholding company could affect Bulgarian economic interests in view of Bulgaria's use of EU sanctions derogations for the Russian company Metrovagonmash - it is interesting that it was during the GERB government that a derogation was requested for this company," the minister emphasized. She added that during the previous administration, there was clearly a risk to the Bulgarian interest, and she described it as difficult to understand why this position is now being changed."