Bulgaria's Top Diplomat Alarmed about Middle East Ties

Bulgaria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, says the country is leading an active policy in the Middle East, and it would be unfortunate if the F1 scandal reflects negatively on ties with other Arab countries. Photo by BNGES

Bulgaria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, hopes the scandal around the project to build a Formula 1 racetrack near Sofia would not have a negative influence on ties with Arab countries.

"Bulgaria is leading an active policy in the Middle East, and I hope this F1 situation would not reflect on our relations with other Arab countries," Mladenov said Saturday, pointing out the largest increase in Bulgaria's exports in the last 6 months has been precisely with the Middle East.

"I hope this situation will be settled very soon," the Minister said.

A representative of the Abu Dhabi Company Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG) is expected in Bulgaria Saturday to help resolve the issue.

On Friday, the Bulgarian daily "Sega" reported EABG refuted statements of Bulgarian authorities it will invest in the project to build a Formula 1 racetrack.

The Sega daily cited a company statement informing EABG had no intentions whatsoever to invest in any such endeavor, and is very disappointed by the way the information got twisted around they would cancel all investment plans in Bulgaria all together.

The CEO of EABG, Raid Abu Hudra, is quoted saying the group never before encountered such lack of professionalism and will do their best to warn all its partners to not invest in Bulgaria.

The problem largely stems from an August 30 official press release of the Bulgarian Economy Ministry, which listed EABG as a state-owned, not private, and its owner Mohammed Abdul Jalil al Blouki was presented as a Sheikh of "Abu Dhabi", not as businessman. In its coverage, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) corrected this information after conducting its own research.

Also on Friday, the Economy Ministry declared that EABG is committed to the plans for building a Formula 1 circuit in the country despite a misunderstanding that led to an international scandal.

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