“What those in power must have as their aim is the defence of the national interest, security and the welfare of our society, not the pursuit of any clique interests,” President Rumen Radev told reporters, and went on to say that behind the pretty argumentation, the government is pushing “the ideas from the dark scenario of the recording”, in reference to a leaked recording from a We Continue the Change meeting.

Rumen Radev said further that the secret preparations for the sale of the company Lukoil (the principal fuel supplier on the Bulgarian market), first announced by the government in a foreign media outlet, is indicative of the fact that the change is taking place in the dark.

• There are indications of interest in the purchase of Lukoil Burgas oil refinery

As regards the raising of the transit fee for Russian gas across the territory of Bulgaria, the president stated that “the government has seemingly been talking about European solidarity and integration but their actions are targeted against a country member of the EU, an ally and a NATO and EU partner like Hungary, which is a major investor in this country”, and in this way are “trampling upon European norms, agreements already concluded and are interfering with other countries’ sovereign decisions”.

• The transit fee for Russian natural gas is competitively justified, PM Denkov says
• The transit tax on Russian gas will not raise the price for consumers