The Bulgarian Parliament Voted “In Favor” of Returning the “Rosenets” Port and Sending APCs to Ukraine

With 144 votes "in favor", 52 "against", the parliament finally revoked the concession of Rosenets port from the Russian company Lukoil by adopting the second reading of changes to the Control Law on the implementation of restrictive measures in view of Russia's actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.

After the vote in the first reading, with 136 votes "in favor" and 60 "against", the parliament decided to immediately start the discussion of the second reading of the amendments to the Law on the control of the implementation of restrictive measures in view of the actions of Russia, destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. This happened after the chairperson of the meeting, Rositsa Kirova, refused to interpret a statement by Tsoncho Ganev from "Vazrazhdane" that their group will have proposals between the first and second readings and therefore they want a certain period between the two readings.

Hamid Hamid's attempt to start the second reading of the report was blocked by "Vazrazhdane" MPs who besieged the parliamentary rostrum in an attempt to stop the discussion of the bill. Screams, personal attacks and insults once again blocked the work of the parliament.

On the sidelines of the National Assembly, there was a reaction from "Vazrazhdane" after the decision for the Rosenets port concession to be considered for a second reading as early as today.

Kostadin Kostadinov - chairman of "Vazrazhdane": "We have witnessed yet another violation of the law. Even the right to vote is no longer there. The rulebook was brutally violated, the ruling triple coalition reads the rulebook and the laws like the devil is the gospel. They decided that they can vote on the bill in two readings. We will appeal to the Constitutional Court. The decision is very express. We cannot make proposals on the text before it has been adopted in the first reading. Here a covert operation was carried out, a coup d'état as the referendum was rejected."

"Lawsuits will be filed by 'Lukoil' that the concession contract is broken, for lost profits, for the recovery of the improvements made at the Rosenets port. We will pay, not Kiril Petkov and Mustafa Karadayi. This is an American order. This company is registered in Switzerland. 'Lukoil' can work without a problem in the Netherlands and Belgium, but in Bulgaria it cannot. 'Lukoil' will not lose. We will lose," added Kostadinov.

In addition, the deputies approved the provision of 100 armored personnel carriers from the reserves of the Ministry of the Interior in support of Ukraine. 148 MPs voted "in favor" and 52 from the political groups of BSP and "Vazrazhdane" voted "against".

The draft decision on the additional provision of military-technical support to Ukraine is the third of the ten additional items included in the agenda. Its examination did not begin until 4:00 p.m.

Two days ago, the parliamentary committee on defense approved Bulgaria to provide 100 armored personnel carriers from the reserves of the Ministry of the Interior in support of Ukraine.

Then it became clear that the Ministry of the Interior does not agree with directly negotiating with the Ukrainian side for the handover of the machines. The Ministry of Defense explained that this is the better option, because the handover procedure would be shorter, and besides, the Ministry of Defense is not currently interested in accepting the APCs, because no headquarters was planned for them.

Ivaylo Mirchev from WCC-DB explained that for the last 16 months, Ukraine has purchased weapons for 5 billion leva from Bulgaria, which is one of the countries that helped Ukraine the least.

About 35 countries have helped and continue to help with military equipment.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party asked the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defense to appear in the plenary hall to explain the state of the weapons and what compensation Bulgaria will receive at the expense of the donations from the European Peace Mechanism and whether the two ministries (the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense) have found the form and the way for the APCs to reach Ukraine.

Hristo Gadjev from GERB-SDS explained that there are written opinions submitted a month ago, which the deputies can familiarize themselves with in order to understand what the technical specifications are and where they are located.

Georgi Svilenski from BSP replied to Hristo Gadjev that the draft decision was submitted on July 13, and the Defense Committee met on July 19. According to him, it remains unclear how much the military aid costs and how much the maintenance will cost.

"With this decision, we can present to Ukraine equipment from the Military History Museum, cannons from Slatina and Geo Milev," comments Svilensky.

Ivaylo Mirchev from WCC-DB "recommended" to Svilenski that "BSP should board Buzludzha and send the flying saucer if they want."

"You can visit all the museums in Bulgaria, but give the flying saucer to Putin," Mirchev replied.

"Mr. Mirchev, you are so incompetent that I regret that I mentioned your name," replied Borislav Gutsanov from BSP angrily.

Hristo Gadjev from GERB explained that the museum exhibits have been breached and cannot be used and when a draft for the ratification of an international agreement between the governments of Bulgaria and Ukraine on the provision of armored vehicles is submitted, all the parameters of the international agreement will be seen.

Andrey Chorbanov from "There Is Such a People" asked if the APCs could not be used for heavy-duty vehicles in conditions and situations in which all-terrain vehicles should be used, although he was clear that Bulgaria would send the military aid.

"I propose to equip and mobilize all young Ukrainians in our country. According to the rules of war, they are deserters from the front. We must help defend Ukraine by sending these people to the front," Chorbanov said.

Part of the reasons for the provision of armored transport equipment with the armament available for it, as well as spare parts for its service to Ukraine, are that in the last 25 years, the maintenance and storage of the equipment in question require significant financial costs from the budget. Also, the technique in question would hardly be applicable in the performance of the main tasks of the National Gendarmerie Service. For these reasons, a large part of this equipment has been declared obsolete for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but it can be a serious support to Ukraine.

The draft decision was submitted by MPs Boyko Borissov, Ivaylo Mirchev, Delyan Peevski, Desislava Atanasova, Atanas Atanasov, Hristo Gadjev, Kiril Petkov and Mustafa Karadayi.

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