Bulgaria PM Says New Navigation Centers Will Tackle Fuel Smuggling

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has cut the ribbon of a new coast guard navigation center in the Black Sea city of Burgas.

In his words, the BGN 2 M facility is just the first of a number of centers which will put an end to fuel smuggling practiced by some vessels.

"Next Saturday we are unveiling such facilities in Varna and [along the] entire Danube river. This will make it physically impossible to hide a ship anymore," the news website Dnevnik.bg quotes Borisov as saying.

He explained that, by turning off their navigation, ships have so far been able to inadvertently transfer fuel to other vessels.

"Now, if anyone turns off their navigation, as [it happened] sometime ago, the ship must have sunk... This means that Border Police, Customs [officers] and whatever we have at disposal (the military included), if such a signal is sent or if two ships approach each other on the radar, patrols will go there immediately to look into [the situation]."

At the Saturday ceremony Borisov was accompanied by a number of ministers and Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov.

The navigation center was built using funds under Operational Program Transport that were granted in the previous (2007-2013) period.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!