Bulgaria under pressure to close border shops

Tina Milton

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Bulgaria is under pressure from the European Commission to close duty-free border stores

The director general of tax and customs Robert Verruehas has sent a letter to the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance calling for closure of duty-free border stores, according to reports.

The letter insists that seven sites at the Kapitan Andreevo border and Kalotina should be closed. The Commission is keen to end border trade, particularly on the Turkish border, where stores at Kapikule came under fire earlier this year. Turkish Customs authorities closed three duty-free operations, Global, Flamme and Vivarini, at the Kapikule border crossing in January. The move followed a police operation at the border in which employees and owners of several duty-free stores were arrested. The crossing is one of Europe's busiest sites for border retailing, with 29 duty-free stores.

The Bulgarian border store business fended off a closure threat from the International Monetary Fund in January. The stores won a reprieve as finance minister Plamen Oresharski agreed that duty-free retailers would operate the stores under tighter controls.