Bulgarian MPs will discuss Wednesday a draft decision submitted by nationalist party Ataka envisaging the termination of all gold mining concessions in the country.

The draft decision is part of the agenda of Parliament as Ataka has taken advantage of the opportunity envisaged in the provision allowing parliamentary groups to propose points on the Parliament’s agenda which are not put to a vote, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

Parliamentary groups can do this each first Wednesday of the month.

Under the draft decision, Bulgaria’s Parliament is to order the government to take the necessary steps to terminate the existing mining concessions for gold, rare, and precious metals.

The authors of the draft decision insist that the government should prepare a strategy on the development of the sector and propose new laws and regulations.

Ataka states that the owners of the concessionaires are largely unknown and the quantities of gold, precious, and rare metals they produce are not subject to control.

Apart from that, according to the nationalist party, the receipts for Bulgaria’s state coffers from taxes, fees, etc., are unclear.
The entire sector is in the sphere of the informal economy, according to the draft decision.

The nationalist party argues that the activities of the concessionaires are opaque and that they commit serious violations to environmental and labor laws.

Ataka claims that these reasons suffice to move to terminate the concession contracts.