After the scandalous defense of Gundyaev, we have a new episode of national humiliation - Rumen Radev entered Brussels as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, and left as a lawyer for "Lukoil", announcing that Bulgaria would block the 21st package of sanctions against Russia if it included Vagit Alekperov - the founder and long-time head of "Lukoil", part of the Russian oligarchy that has accumulated influence and wealth in the shadow of the Kremlin.
Radev's explanation: Because "Lukoil" is conducting arbitration against Bulgaria for € 3 billion, we had to protect Alekperov from sanctions. It is unacceptable for a company that is suing Bulgaria to dictate the position of the Bulgarian Prime Minister in the European Union. This is not protecting the national interest. This is serving Russian corporate interests.
For years, "Lukoil" was the largest business in Bulgaria on paper - with huge turnover, a dominant position in the market and almost no profit tax. For over 15 years, the state watched as profits flowed away, as institutions remained silent, as Bulgarians paid, and the Russian company behaved like a state within a state. And right now, when Bulgaria must finally show that it has sovereignty, Radev is spreading an umbrella over Alikperov. While the US is sanctioning "Lukoil" and "Rosneft", while Europe is looking for a way to hit the Kremlin's energy revenues, Bulgaria is heading in the opposite direction. Instead of being part of the European pressure against Putin's military machine, we are becoming the state that saves a Russian oligarch from sanctions.
In the campaign "Progressive Bulgaria" it talked about fighting the oligarchy. However, it turns out that the fight is selective. Against part of the oligarchy, an imitation of a fight, and for the Russian oligarchy, direct support.
In the EU, Orban is just getting carried away with his pro-Kremlin behavior and has started a process of Orbanization of Bulgaria. The government owes answers:
- Who asked Bulgaria to protect Vagit Alekperov?
- Were there talks with "Lukoil" or with representatives of the company before this position about protecting Alekperov?
- Why was the arbitration of "Lukoil" against Bulgaria is used as an argument that Bulgaria is protecting the interest of "Lukoil"?