The Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana, Yanko Yordanov, has revealed that talks are ongoing between leaders of both countries to facilitate the restoration of the demolished Bulgarian Embassy building.

He said the engagements include efforts to reinstate the legal rights of Bulgaria as the owner of the land on which the Embassy was sited, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

A statement issued by the Ambassador on Thursday affirmed that until the lease agreement expires in 2033, Bulgaria reserves the right to own the property as was ruled by the Supreme Court.

“The Bulgarian Embassy building in Accra was illegally demolished in 2017. The opponents, claiming control over the terrain, entered it illegally with heavy equipment in August, 2021.

“Since then, the Bulgarian side has taken a number of diplomatic actions to protect its rights as the owner of the lease over the property, and has repeatedly received assurances that the issue will be resolved quickly.

“After the issue was once again raised before the Ghanaian side, the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Abuja was informed that on March 15, 2022, the Minister of Lands of Ghana has taken the necessary action by issuing an order to stop illegal activities on the Bulgarian property,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry has directed Private Developer, Dr. Adu-Ampomah, to halt all building activities on the parcel of land owned by the Bulgarian Embassy.

Speaking to the caretaker of the site, the Deputy Minister, Benito Owusu-Bio insisted that ongoing works on the site must be put on hold while the dispute over the ownership of the land is settled at the court.

He confirmed that the Embassy has a sublease which has not yet expired.

“We are aware of a litigation between the Embassy and the developer. So if anything at all, in the interim, nobody must be here working.”

He bemoaned that “yesterday, when we heard of this, we asked the Lands Commission to put a “stop work” notice on the premises but our attention has been drawn to the fact that those notices have been removed.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, who was part of the government delegation reiterated that the private developer has no backing of government to continue building and must stop work with immediate effect.

Both ministers visited the construction site on Wednesday, March 16, to ascertain the state of affairs.