Bulgaria blocked a wire transfer worth about $890,000 to the Russian embassy because of EU sanctions, Finance Minister Asen Vasilev said today, days after Sofia expelled 70 Russian diplomats from the Balkan country.
“There is a bank transfer to the Russian embassy that falls directly under the European Commission’s sanctions. There are no frozen bank accounts,” Vasilev told reporters.
The Bulgarian minister said the Russian embassy had sought to obtain an exemption because the funds were needed to pay staff salaries. He added that the Bulgarian government is currently in talks with Brussels on whether to lift sanctions to allow the wire transfer.
Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO and once a close ally of Russia, has been plagued by diplomatic tensions after outgoing Prime Minister Kirill Petkov announced the expulsion of 70 Russian members of the Russian embassy for espionage activities.
Moscow has said it will retaliate, while Russia’s ambassador in Sofia has said she will ask the Russian government to close the embassy.
The EU and other Western countries have imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Source: RES-MPE
Source: Capital
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