Cornelia Ninova: Someday Russia may file a lawsuit and seek its rights

The US will not give us a reprieve for the sanctions on "Lukoil", because we do not have statesmen on the Bulgarian side who would care about the national interest and hold negotiations. This was stated by the former Minister of Economy Cornelia Ninova.

"You see that they only talk about how to get out of the sanctions. The American side hardly respects such a position. Some petty scheming. Their goal is only personal salvation and survival, not Bulgaria“, she explained on NOVA NEWS.

According to her, it is possible that Bulgaria could fall into a severe crisis that could lead to the fall of the government.

When asked whether the change in the legislation – expanding the powers of the special manager – would solve the problem with “Lukoil”, she answered the following:

"The law is bad, it hides risks. And if they are implemented, we will all pay. It is not true that it copies the German model. In Germany, there are two special managers, not one. Here, power is given entirely to one person. In addition, he is without control – neither administrative nor judicial. The difference with the German model is also that there all conversations are held in consultation or in conversation with the owner. Here, he is completely excluded. This is a risk that one day the Russian side will file a lawsuit in international arbitration and seek its rights if it deems them to have been violated," Ninova also said.

Regarding the 2026 budget, Ninova said the following:

"I can't understand which unreasonable person was the first to let out this nonsense that the budget is "turbulent", without any specifics. Suddenly this was picked up and repeated by everyone. Let's see specific things, let's look for something left-wing in this budget. For example, social security is increasing by 10%. Two percentage points equal 10% for working people. If you paid 100 leva in social security, now you will pay 110. Who are you punishing? I hear some deputies saying: "Well, big capital needs to get used to it". Where is the taxation of the banks' excess profits? There is no such thing. Where are the new concession sanctions for concessionaires? There is no such thing. A tax-free minimum for the poor? – None. Progressive tax? – None. Where did they see a hit on big capital?“, she asked.

According to her, the VAT revenues for 2026 are too ambitious and will not be collected.