Parliament's foreign affairs committee has backed a bill to ratify a deal between the government and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC). The deal settles all remaining claims and debts between the two after Bulgaria left the bank. The vote was 13 in favour, none against and no abstentions.

This follows our earlier report on the return of Bulgaria's IBEC contribution, when the budget and finance committee approved the deal for ratification.

The Council of Ministers drew up the bill. Gergana Beremska, head of the international financial institutions directorate at the finance ministry, presented it to MPs. She said the bank will repay Bulgaria's entire paid-in capital of €15.1m. It will pay in yearly instalments that rise over 20 years.

The figures stem from Bulgaria's exit from the agreement on IBEC's organisation and work, and from its membership of the bank. Beremska said membership ended on 17 August 2023, after the National Assembly passed a law withdrawing from the agreement founding the International Investment Bank and from the agreement on IBEC's organisation and work.

The finance minister signed the deal in Sofia on 28 April 2026 on behalf of the government, subject to later ratification. The bank signed it on 20 May 2026 in Moscow. Its signatories were the chair of IBEC's board and one board member. Both dates appear in the bill's explanatory notes.

Parliament must still ratify the deal.