Libya Seeks to Restore Economic relations with Bulgaria
22 January 2019 News
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva conferred in Brussels with Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala and discussed with him the preparations for an upcoming visit to Bulgaria by Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
In a telephone conversation a week ago, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov invited Prime Minister al-Saraj to visit Bulgaria and the invitation was accepted. The Libyan Foreign Minister and Interior Minister were also invited to visit.
“I remember well the good work of Bulgarian companies in my country. We have to invigorate our relations to their previous level,” Foreign Minister Siala said at his meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva. “All stadiums in Libya were built by Bulgarian companies and are still in perfect condition,” he said. He commended the hard-working Bulgarian workers.
“We have to step up bilateral relations, especially in the area of economy. Our engineers and doctors played an important role in the life of the Libyan society and economy,” said Zaharieva.
The Libyan top diplomat thanked once again for the fast and timely reaction by the Bulgarian authorities in the Bdin/badr tanker case. Zaharieva reiterated that this is a matter of private law but the Bulgarian government committed to it so that it would not affect bilateral relations. “We are ready to resolve the matter in a mutually acceptable manner,” she said.
Foreign Minister Siala stated that no arrest order had been issued for Bulgarian vessels in Libyan territorial water and that all Bulgarian-flagged ships were welcome to the Libyan ports.
The foreign ministers agreed that a visit to Libya by the Bulgarian Prime Minister would be accompanied by a business forum at which a resumption of Bulgarian exports would be discussed. Siala showed a special interest in Bulgarian lamb meat and yoghurt supplies. “In the past, two planeloads of meat were flown from Bulgaria to Libya every day,” he said.
The Ministers discussed the political processes in Libya, including the plans to hold elections before the year’s end.