The FATF (Financial Action Task Force) at its plenary session on October 25-27 in Paris once again ignored Ukraine’s call to include Russia in the list of high-risk jurisdictions – the so-called “black list”.
“The suspension of Russia’s membership remains in force. Following the statements issued since March 2022, the FATF reiterates that all jurisdictions should be vigilant about the ongoing risks associated with circumventing measures taken against the Russian Federation to protect the international financial system,” the final communiqué reiterates the organization’s position on Russia.
The FATF has also updated the “gray” list of countries that are under enhanced monitoring for money laundering and terrorist financing.
The organization removed Albania, Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama from the gray list and added Bulgaria to it.
The list also includes Barbados, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Gibraltar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Jamaica, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, the Philippines and South Africa.
At the same time, the FATF left the blacklist unchanged. It includes countries that require countermeasures, such as the DPRK and Iran, and countries that require enhanced due diligence commensurate with the risks (Myanmar).
Among the main outcomes of the plenary session, the FATF agreed to publish a key report on crowdfunding for terrorist financing. Members also agreed to amend FATF Recommendation 8 to clarify the measures applicable to NPOs. The FATF will also scale up its work on criminalizing terrorist financing in countries (Recommendation 5).
FATF members recognized the need for full and effective implementation of the FATF Standards in all jurisdictions. This includes the analysis and exchange of financial information on terrorist financing networks, as well as the use of financial and law enforcement tools, such as financial sanctions and confiscation, to cut off terrorists from their sources of revenue and weaken the infrastructure that these groups need to achieve their destructive goals. This also includes the designation of identified terrorists and terrorist groups in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
In an important milestone, the press release notes, delegates also agreed on a significant set of amendments to the FATF Recommendations that will provide countries with a much more powerful toolkit of measures to deprive criminals of the proceeds of crime. To further improve global asset recovery efforts, the FATF also published a report that sets out recommendations for strengthening the role and use of Asset Recovery and Investigation Networks (ARINs) in investigating transnational money laundering cases.
The FATF also approved reports on illicit financial flows resulting from cyberspace fraud and the misuse of citizenship and residence permits through investment programs, the report said.
Following recent amendments to the beneficial ownership and transparency standards, delegates also agreed to release for public comment an updated risk-based FATF Guidance on Recommendation 25 on beneficial ownership and transparency of legal arrangements.
Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras has initiated the launch of a railway connection between Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania to connect with Ukraine, Noi.md reports.
According to the report, the Greek minister proposed to launch the train during a summit in Varna (Bulgaria) on October 9 to diversify trade ties between Mediterranean ports and Ukraine.
The Greek government proposes that trains should run to the Greek ports of Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki from the ports of Ruse in Bulgaria and Constanta in Romania, and then connections could be established with Moldova and Ukraine. This project can become an alternative option in trade relations between the two countries, strengthening transport links and international freight transportation, Greece believes.
The Greek Minister of Transport sent a letter of intent to European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean, Bulgarian Minister of Finance Assen Vasilev, Bulgarian Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, and Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindian.
As reported, the European Union is exploring alternative routes for Ukrainian grain through Italy and Greece.
In Brussels, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Bulgaria’s Defense Minister Todor Tagarev signed a memorandum expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation, including cyber defense, strategic communications, and military and technical support.
“The results of the meeting with my Bulgarian counterpart Todor Tagarev are significant. We have signed a Memorandum expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation, including cyber defense, strategic communications, and military and technical support. The document also lays the foundation for future defense cooperation and military cooperation,” Umerov wrote in X.
In addition, Bulgaria will help with English language courses for future Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
“I am grateful for the important support of Minister Tagarev and the entire Bulgarian people,” the minister added.
The Agricultural Ministers of Ukraine and Bulgaria, Mykola Solsky and Kyrylo Vatev, discussed technical issues of Ukrainian agricultural exports to Bulgaria during online talks on Friday.
“The Bulgarian government considers the action plan of Ukraine submitted to the European Commission on the supply of agricultural products acceptable. Bulgaria has its own proposals to the mechanism of licensing certain types of agricultural products proposed by Ukraine. In particular, this concerns sunflower, while Bulgaria has no objections to the export of the other three crops,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine reported.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Farming clarified that Vatev familiarized Solsky with the memorandum signed between the Bulgarian government and the initiative committee of farmers, which provides for a ban on the import of sunflower from Ukraine until the end of November.
After this period, a licensing regime for the export of sunflower, wheat, corn and rapeseed will be in place, according to the plan agreed between Ukraine and the European Commission.
Vatev also spoke about the concerns of Bulgarian farmers and processors regarding the imports of refined and unrefined sunflower oil, milk powder, honey, sugar and frozen raspberries from Ukraine.
“It is very important to discuss all the problems affecting our agricultural producers and to look for solutions together,” the Bulgarian minister emphasized.
The ministers agreed to agree on the technical details of the procedure for exporting agricultural products to Bulgaria and discuss their results at the next meeting in the first half of October, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture added that regular data exchange between the two agricultural agencies will become weekly. It will include the exchange of information on exports and imports of certain agricultural products.
The Party “Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB) proposes to transfer to Ukraine about 100 armored personnel carriers from the warehouses of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, Euronews Bulgaria reports citing MP Ivaylo Mirchev.
“The APCs, produced in the 1960s and 1970s, were purchased by the then “Internal Troops” (today’s gendarmerie) but were not used and are no longer needed. Bulgaria pays a lot of money for storage and maintenance of this equipment,” the newspaper quoted the MP as saying.
According to him, the initiative involves Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense Hristo Gadjev, as well as the leader of the party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) Boyko Borisov.
It is noted that the draft decision of the National Assembly will be presented on Thursday and supported by the PP-DB, GERB and DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) parties.
Mirchev hopes that Bulgaria will still be able to take advantage of the promised US military aid in exchange for providing Ukraine with Soviet-era equipment.
In addition, he noted that the sale of nuclear equipment to Ukraine “is also a very favorable deal, because in this way we (Bulgaria – IF-U) will not only help the Ukrainians to complete their NPPs and return a significant part of our investments”.
A memorandum of understanding between the Ukrainian and Bulgarian energy ministries on cooperation in the energy sector was signed in the presence of Zelensky and Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolo Denkov during an official visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Bulgaria.
According to the press service of the Ukrainian head of state, the document was signed by Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko and Bulgarian Energy Minister Rumen Radev.
“The memorandum is aimed at creating framework conditions for deepening cooperation in the energy sector of Ukraine and Bulgaria based on the principle of mutual benefit and taking into account common interests and goals of both countries,” the statement said.
Ukraine and Bulgaria undertook to provide affordable energy, as well as to support industrial and regional development, security and prosperity of their peoples, expand cooperation and a shared commitment to protect the environment and mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions.
It was noted that taking into account Ukraine’s status as a candidate for EU membership and Bulgaria’s obligations as a EU member state, the sides agreed to intensify further mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, green energy, hydrogen, as well as energy storage systems and smart grids.
Sharing knowledge and experience to protect energy infrastructure from physical, electromagnetic, and cyber threats is a priority in the cooperation.
As reported, Bulgarian parliamentarians by a majority vote delegated the country’s Energy Minister to negotiate with his Ukrainian counterpart on the possibility of selling equipment intended for Belene NPP to Kiev, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported Thursday.
The decision was supported by 135 deputies, while 57 opposed.
Earlier, BNR reported that Ukraine had expressed interest in purchasing the reactors intended for Belene NPP.
Bulgaria abandoned the project in 2012.
