BULGARIA. Minister of finance Milen Velchev has withdrawn his resignation and will remain in office, a blow to the country’s duty free border shop operators.
Velchev is the architect of new legislation designed to close down the stores by year-end, supposedly for feeding the country’s black economy. But intense resistance to this and other proposed legislation led him to resign on 7 August, claiming a lack of government support for his measures.
That game of brinksmanship appears to have paid off and Velchev is firmly back in power.
As previously reported, Velchev ordered the closure of all land border duty free shops by 31 December in an effort to combat the black economy and smuggling. Under the current law, the Ministry had to conduct a tender by the second week of July for 10-year licences for duty free operators.
But having held the tender and awarded three licences – to Transimpex, Deneb and Corecom-Princess – the Ministry said on 9 August that it will not issue any duty free licences until the relevant amendments to the Excise Duty Act were approved by the parliamentary budget and finance committee. It then withdrew the three awarded licences.
The operators have threatened court action and will be disheartened by Velchev’s return.
