We recently had a visit to Russia and saw the understanding of the Russian authorities to protect their interests and the guarantee that no reciprocal measures will be taken against Bulgarian companies in Russia… We commented on this thesis that because of a law - with all its controversial issues, not subject to judicial control, to administrative control, with the possibility of pushing through various deals through the Council of Ministers, a new need for perspective must be found in Bulgarian-Russian relations. I hope that this will prevail. And our aspiration is that there will be no encroachment on the interests of Bulgarian companies. This was announced to Lili Marinkova in the studio “FACTI“ and the program “Conversation“ Rumen Petkov, leader of the party ABV, part of the BSP - United Left.
“I don't know who the companies are and what they are, but for me the Bulgarian national interest must be protected. And we believe that it will be protected by a high-ranking person in Russian foreign policy like Leonid Sludsky. We have seen an exceptionally good attitude towards the Bulgarian people and our history; declared gratitude for the alphabet, for the Cyrillic alphabet, for culture and in general… I have no doubt about their attitude. I very much hope that we will continue to make our contribution and avoid an unnecessary tension that is starting to lose ground throughout Europe“, added the guest.
“I have not been authorized by the Bulgarian government. We, ABV, have traditional relations with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. And we have a clear aspiration to normalize relations. It's just that political entities must work abroad, regardless of the direction in which they are, in order to have good relations that can be build through public diplomacy – and we have done that. And I think we succeeded“, Rumen Petkov also said.
“The Russian side has very clearly said that “Lukoil“ is a global company and it has the tools to protect its interests. However, we somehow miss the owners of shares in “Lukoil“, such as the American company BlackRock – with extremely serious financial participation, the large pension fund of Japan. And when we so heroically explain from our screen who should buy “Lukoil Bulgaria“, this is too stupid in the eyes of the normal Bulgarian, the regular European, the regular Russian. We hear that we want to attract a Western investor… When you invited me, I had the opportunity to prepare a report on the bankrupt oil refineries in Western Europe over the last 10 years – 5 in France, 5 in England, then in Italy, in Spain… And we are talking about a company that has gone bankrupt, to bring it to manage “Lukoil“, is that right…“, asks Petkov.
See more of the conversation in the VIDEO.