Prime Minister Boyko Borissov demonstrated to the media the journey of fuel in Bulgaria from ship to gas stations. He visually explained how the state controls the movement of fuels in Bulgaria during an open working meeting held on February 8, 2019, at the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) of the Ministry of Interior. The Prime Minister emphasized that the movement of every tanker, even every boat, is recorded by the monitoring systems of the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure”. To make the control even more comprehensive, the entire database from the Vessel Traffic Management Centers of BPI Co. in Burgas, Varna, and Ruse, which he personally inaugurated three years ago, is now also accessible in Sofia, the Prime Minister added.
The event was attended by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rosen Zhelyazkov, Minister of Interior Mladen Marinov, Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov, Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov, the Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee in the National Assembly Menda Stoyanova, the Chairman of the Commission for Monitoring Revenue Agencies and Combating the Gray Economy and Smuggling in the National Assembly Emil Dimitrov, Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov, the General Director of SE “Port Infrastructure” Angel Zaburtov, as well as the heads of all responsible institutions along the chain.
Upon entering the maritime spaces of the Republic of Bulgaria, ships come under the surveillance of the VTMIS navigation safety system, operating under BPI Co.. This system tracks vessel movements in territorial waters and the contiguous zone. BPI Co. also operates other high-tech shipping-related systems – Single Window, the Port Community System, River Information System in the Bulgarian section of the Danube River – BULRIS, as well as the newly built system for risk prevention and security enhancement in maritime ports.
The VTMIS, BULRIS, and Single Window systems are accessible to other state bodies such as the Border Police General Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, Customs Agency, Maritime Administration Executive Agency, and others.
