The British Embassy published a response following the statement by the Chairman of GERB Boyko Borisov, in connection with his talks with the former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Lord David Cameron (2023-2024) on the issue of sanctions under the "Magnitsky Act", bTV reports.
Borisov stated that he personally negotiated with the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron to lift the sanctions against "all Bulgarians who have unfairly been" on the list of those sanctioned.
"I am talking about all Bulgarians who were unfairly included. I have also spoken about Alexander Manolev (former Deputy Minister of Economy – ed. note), including. No one has refused me. I believe that Delyan Peevski was included unfairly, because I am convinced that Delyan Peevski did not sell passports. Whoever sold them, they arrested him", commented Borisov.
"I participated when the sanctions were imposed. When the sanctions were imposed, I was at the US embassy with the ambassador. I know everything about these sanctions. In addition, I have spoken to many of the partner services. There is a question of how billions of dollars left the refinery and went towards Russia. And this is being worked on at the moment. Everything is described in the documents and answers. There are people who are sanctioned and can speak. We have talked about these topics with Kiril Petkov, Asen Vassilev and Hristo Ivanov - how to impose sanctions on Delyan Peevski. They cooperated with all means", said Boyko Borisov.
Hristo Ivanov also came out with a position after Borisov's allegations: “On this occasion, I am obliged to state that it is categorically false that I have provided or promised assistance in lifting the American or British sanctions against Delyan Peevski. Borisov and Peevski have never had any restrictions related to elementary human decency to shamelessly abuse unsubstantiated lies in order to compromise and silence their opponents, but the very development of events from the period 2022 - 2024 confirms my words for anyone who is actually interested in the truth“, said the former chairman of “Yes, Bulgaria” Hristo Ivanov.
According to the British Embassy, sanctions cannot be lifted after negotiations between governments. The position explains that it is necessary to submit a formal request to be removed from the list. "Such a request has not been submitted on behalf of any Bulgarian citizen", the embassy specifies.
Here is the full position:
"Information on the procedure for requesting the lifting of sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom is publicly available on gov.uk, and these guidelines do not envisage negotiations between governments. Such a request has not been submitted on behalf of any Bulgarian citizen included in the sanctions list under the United Kingdom's global sanctions regime against corruption. All sanctions regimes introduced by the United Kingdom have specific objectives set out in the relevant legislation. The purpose of the global sanctions regime against corruption is to prevent and counteract serious cases of corruption. Sanctions remain in effect".