Bulgaria has blocked a bank transfer worth some $890,000 to the Russian embassy because of EU sanctions, Finance Minister Assen Vassilev said on Wednesday, several days after Sofia expelled 70 Russian diplomatic staff from the Balkan country.
“There is a bank transfer to the Russian embassy which falls directly under the European Commission sanctions. There are no frozen bank accounts,” Vassilev told reporters.
Vassilev said the Russian embassy had sought a derogation because the funds were needed to pay staff salaries. He said the Bulgarian government was currently holding talks with Brussels on whether to waive the sanctions to allow the transfer.
The Russian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 29, 2021. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)
Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member state and once a close ally of Russia, has been roiled by diplomatic tensions after outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov announced on June 28 the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomatic staff on espionage concerns….