On September 11, 2026, Bulgaria's National Assembly registered bill 52-602-01-43 amending the Criminal Code (Nakazatelen kodeks, State Gazette No. 26 of 1968). The Council of Ministers approved the text by Decision No. 671 of September 1, 2026 and instructed the Minister of Justice to lodge it, as recorded on the National Assembly bills register.
The draft adds Special Part Chapter Seven "a" (Articles 268a, 268b and 268c) to transpose Directive (EU) 2024/1226 of April 24, 2024. Intentional dealing in Common Military List items or dual-use goods in Annexes I and IV to Regulation (EU) 2021/821 is a crime with no value floor. For most other EU restrictive-measure breaches, Bulgaria keeps conduct below EUR 10,000 out of the criminal offence. Two readings and State Gazette promulgation still lie ahead.
What offences does the bill add, and where is the EUR 10,000 floor?
Article 268a(1) criminalises trading, manufacturing, holding, transferring, importing, exporting, selling, buying, transiting or transporting Common Military List or dual-use Annex I and IV items, and related brokering, insurance or technical assistance, with no EUR 10,000 floor. Negligent commission of that same conduct is Article 268a(9): up to three years and EUR 1,500 to EUR 5,000.
Where the value is not less than EUR 10,000, Article 268a(2) covers making funds or resources available to a designated person, failing to freeze them, continuing a transaction (including public contracts) with a third country or an entity it controls, trading in other goods, providing financial or other services, and breaching a derogation licence. The motives name legal advice, trusteeship, accounting, audit and tax among "other services". The penalty is up to three years and EUR 1,500 to EUR 5,000. Article 268a(3) applies the same penalty to hiding frozen assets or giving false beneficial-ownership information. Travel-ban facilitation into or through Bulgaria carries up to two years and EUR 500 to EUR 2,000. Reporting failures at or above EUR 10,000 carry up to one year and a fine of up to EUR 1,000. Article 268c(1) puts crypto-assets inside "funds".
Who is exposed, and what happens to Articles 233 and 339b?
Natural persons who commit the act in Bulgaria are in scope, including staff of BNB-supervised banks and payment institutions, FSC-supervised insurers and investment firms, Customs, DANS, dual-use exporters, and lawyers, accountants, auditors and trustees whose listed non-financial services to designated persons meet the EUR 10,000 floor. Freeze duties already bind private operators from EU listing. Articles 233(1) and 339b lose their EU limb and would cover only UN and OSCE prohibitions. Article 268b(1) carves out humanitarian assistance. Article 268b(2) carves out, for the Article 268a(6) reporting offence only, advocates under the Bar Act and in-house counsel acting on a client's legal position. That privilege does not cover dealing, freeze failures or licence breaches.
What fines hit legal persons, and when would the law apply?
Paragraph 8 amends Article 83a of the Administrative Offences and Penalties Act. For a legal person in whose interest Articles 268a(1) to 268a(4) are committed, the property sanction is up to EUR 40,500,000, and not less than the benefit. For Articles 268a(5) and 268a(6) the cap is EUR 8,500,000. Special investigative means become available for Article 268a(1), Article 268a(7) point 1 and Article 268a(8). Paragraph 11 sets entry into force at one month after State Gazette promulgation. Directive Article 20(1) expired on May 20, 2025. The motives record Commission infringement 2025/0199: letter of formal notice on July 24, 2025 and a reasoned opinion on March 11, 2026.
| Conduct | Value floor | Penalty if adopted |
|---|---|---|
| Military List / dual-use Annex I and IV (Art. 268a(1)) | None | 1 to 6 years and EUR 2,500 to EUR 10,000 |
| Freeze, funds, trade, services, licence breach (Art. 268a(2) and (3)) | EUR 10,000 | Up to 3 years and EUR 1,500 to EUR 5,000 |
| Value not less than EUR 100,000 (Art. 268a(7)) | EUR 100,000 | 1 to 6 years and EUR 3,000 to EUR 15,000 (paras. 2 and 3) |
| Aggravated: OCG, false document, gain, recidivism (Art. 268a(8)) | As for the base offence | 3 to 10 years and EUR 5,000 to EUR 25,000 |
| Entry into force (para. 11) | n/a | One month after State Gazette promulgation |
What should sanctions, legal and export-control teams do before first reading?
Speaker assignment order 52-650-01-288 of September 11, 2026 exists; no committee report or first-reading date is on the register card.
- Treat the EUR 10,000 floor as the criminal threshold for freeze, funds, trade and services; military and dual-use list items are criminal with no floor.
- Financial institutions: freeze-from-listing procedures must evidence intent, and crypto-assets sit inside "funds".
- Dual-use and defence exporters: Annex I and IV and Common Military List flows are Article 268a(1) with no de minimis.
- Law firms, accountants, auditors and trustees: Article 268a(2) point 6 criminalises listed services to designated persons at or above EUR 10,000; the Bar privilege is only for Article 268a(6).
- Group legal: size the ZANN EUR 40,500,000 and EUR 8,500,000 caps against current incident playbooks.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces a National Assembly filing the day the incoming stamp is applied, not when the State Gazette later starts the one-month clock.
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Confirm whether Bulgarian operations, clients or counterparties sit in the freeze, dual-use or professional-services perimeters, diary the one-month post-promulgation delay, and brief criminal, sanctions and export-control counsel before first reading. Obsidian tracks this file from the 11:45 deposit through both readings and the State Gazette.
