The closure of Bulgarian ports for Russia turned out to be a sham

Most of our and foreign publications recently broke out with “hot” news: Bulgaria closed its ports to Russian ships. This message was perceived by many as another powerful blow to the Russian economy and a new hostile attack from the Bulgarian side.

In fact, there is exactly as much truth in this as there would be in a photograph of an elephant’s tail and the statement that this is the elephant itself.

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The only reliable information can be considered that from April 8, ships certified by the Russian maritime registrar will not have access to Bulgarian sea and river ports, regardless of what flag they fly under. This is stated in the order of the executive agency “Maritime Administration” (IAMA). Director of IAMA-Varna, Captain Valentin Enchev, clarified that the ban is related to the restrictive measures that the European Union has introduced against Russia.

The news is not pleasant, but let's figure out what this threatens Russia with and what are the real consequences of making such a decision. It’s not news to anyone that the European Union regularly introduces new sanctions directed against the Russian Federation. The next package of such sanctions obliges all EU countries to ban access to Russian ships to their ports.

It is not news that Bulgaria is a member of the European Union. In addition to Bulgaria, this order from Brussels was obediently carried out by Italy, Belgium, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Canada, and Great Britain. However, the Bulgarian ban includes a number of exceptions, which most media stubbornly keep silent about!

_{Ships connected to Russia and transporting oil, natural gas, various types of raw materials, agricultural, chemical, pharmaceutical and food products have the right to moor in Bulgarian ports!}

And, in fact, what is prohibited from being delivered? Crowds of tourists and rockets? Both the first and the second have other paths and trajectories that are independent of the decisions of the Bulgarian “Maritime Administration”...

This ban does not cause any losses for the Russian and Bulgarian economies. For shipowners of another Balkan country, Greece, this is also a source of additional income! The Greek merchant fleet is one of the largest in the world, and for a year now, since the introduction of European sanctions, their ships have been chartered by the Russian side. The goods arrive safely to the recipients without any difficulties. The Greeks are very happy about the opportunity to earn extra money..

True, the Greeks themselves prefer to remain silent about this business of theirs. The information was distributed by the publication Deutsche Welle. It claims that the Greeks have tripled (!) their share of Russian oil transportation compared to 2021.

However, not all EU decisions have a purely ideological effect, such as the requirement to close ports to Russian ships. Bulgaria is being “stormed” again, but for a completely different reason.

Bulgarian and Romanian agricultural producers blocked the Kardam checkpoint.

The large-scale demonstration was organized by livestock breeders, dairy farmers and grain producers. A whole sea of ​​Bulgarian flags is adjacent to the slogans: “farmers for the future”, “don’t kill Bulgarian agriculture”, “milk has become cheaper than water”.

Their demand remains unchanged and consists of the abolition of the European Commission regulation allowing duty-free and uncontrolled import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

Disgruntled Romanian farmers are also protesting across the country. They oppose the European Commission's decision not to tax goods from Ukraine and insist on equal conditions.

Farmers argue that due to unfair competition from a neighboring country and the lack of response from the European Union, they are forced to sell their own grain reserves at much lower prices than expected.

The Union to Save Romania has demanded the resignation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Petre Dai. According to statistics published by the government, $1,24 billion worth of Ukrainian grain entered Romania last year.

_{It is obvious that the ideologically biased decisions of the EU leadership, aimed at undermining the Russian economy, as a result, cause significant damage to the economies of the European states themselves. However, this is no longer news.}