site.btaAuthorities to Look into Possible Violations of EU's Russian Sanctions at Kamchia Resort Facility

A national coordination group for the implementation of EU's restrictive measures against Russia will look for possible violations at the Kamchia Sanatorium and Health Complex, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev said during parliamentary Question Time on Friday. He said that necessary measures would be taken if violations were established.

The Kamchia complex is owned by the Moscow City Government.

Donev was responding to a question from Democratic Bulgaria MPs Pavel Popov, Kaloyan Ivanov and Stella Nikolova about whether Bulgarian competent authorities had checked if lease agreements and rights of use established in 2024 and 2025 over properties at the Kamchia complex, as well as subsequent transactions involving the tenant companies, complied with the EU's restrictive measures against Russia. They also asked whether any violations or attempts to circumvent the sanctions regime had been identified.

The question was based on a journalistic investigation published on September 8. According to the investigation, the Kamchia complex has resumed active economic operations after a period of inactivity. It said that numerous lease agreements had been concluded and rights of use had been established over a substantial part of the complex's properties in 2024 and 2025, with the total value of the transactions cited in the investigation approaching EUR 20 million.

The investigation said that the Registry Agency had on several occasions refused to register changes to the management bodies of the Kamchia complex, citing the EU's restrictive measures. The first such refusal was finally upheld by the Sofia Court of Appeal in March 2024.

According to the publication, only days after the first refusal, lease agreements were signed covering a large part of the complex's properties, followed later by the establishment of long-term rights of use. It also said that some of the initial tenants were subsequently acquired by, or were found to be linked to, Panisos Holding and Panisos Investments. Through the latter companies, the investigation traced a link to Varna International Educational Centre, which organizes children's camps at the complex.

Donev said the Finance Ministry does not have the authority to conduct checks into possible circumvention of the EU's restrictive measures against Russia in connection with the conclusion of lease agreements and the granting of rights of use relating to the operation of the Kamchia complex.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the case falls within the remit of several institutions. Therefore, the inquiry and accompanying materials had been sent to the Coordination Group for the Implementation of the EU's Restrictive Measures, which is empowered to examine such matters and identify the competent national institutions responsible for enforcing the prohibitions and exemptions from them.

"I am convinced that the coordination group will do its job, as it has done so far, and if there have indeed been violations of the sanctions regimes, this will be established and the necessary measures will be taken accordingly," Donev said.