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text sizeRussia Reclaims Bulgartabac Again
Moscow insists on Bulgartabac ownership in the heat of South Stream talks
It has become sort of a tradition for Russia to claim ownership over former Soviet properties every time Moscow and Sofia face one another in an important talk. Once again - this time in the heat of the South Stream negotiations - Russia has expressed its desire to have back Bulgartabac, Bulgaria's biggest tobacco producer.
"We are set to reclaim all properties that lie abroad and belonged to the Soviet Union. Bulgartabac will not be an exception," Vladimir Kozhin, head of the Presidential Property Management Department of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with the Moscow newspaper Tribuna.
Russia's aspirations for Bulgartabac were repeatedly reconfirmed in the past several years, nonetheless Bulgaria remains unbending in its refusal to hand it over. Its motive is that Moscow's claims are groundless and completely devoid of documentary evidence. The first mention on the Bulgartabac subject was back in 2002 when the holding was due to be denationalized and when there was a Russian company wanting to get it, which was eventually ousted from the rivalry. Kremlin then announced it would refer its pretences to the future owner.
Bulgartabac was handed over as reparation to the Soviet Union following WW2. The Bulgartabac matter was most recently discussed by Bulgaria and Russia's heads of state Georgi Parvanov and Vladimir Putin. In the end they agreed to take it off from all common agendas in the future.
"We are set to reclaim all properties that lie abroad and belonged to the Soviet Union. Bulgartabac will not be an exception," Vladimir Kozhin, head of the Presidential Property Management Department of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with the Moscow newspaper Tribuna.
Russia's aspirations for Bulgartabac were repeatedly reconfirmed in the past several years, nonetheless Bulgaria remains unbending in its refusal to hand it over. Its motive is that Moscow's claims are groundless and completely devoid of documentary evidence. The first mention on the Bulgartabac subject was back in 2002 when the holding was due to be denationalized and when there was a Russian company wanting to get it, which was eventually ousted from the rivalry. Kremlin then announced it would refer its pretences to the future owner.
Bulgartabac was handed over as reparation to the Soviet Union following WW2. The Bulgartabac matter was most recently discussed by Bulgaria and Russia's heads of state Georgi Parvanov and Vladimir Putin. In the end they agreed to take it off from all common agendas in the future.
