You have an arbitration award issued by a foreign arbitral authority against a company or an individual in Bulgaria, and you need to proceed to its enforcement as the debtor is not complying with it voluntarily.

In that case before proceeding to any enforcement measures in Bulgaria, it is necessary to complete the procedure for recognition and admission of the execution of foreign decisions (the so called exequatur).

According to art. 51, par.2 of the Law on International Commercial Arbitration the international agreements concluded by Republic of Bulgaria shall apply to the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral awards. Such international agreement in the field of exequatur is the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. As referred to its art.3 each contracting state shall recognize arbitral awards as binding and enforce them in accordance with the rules of procedure of the territory where the award is relied upon.

For Bulgaria the procedural order for recognition and admission of execution of a foreign arbitral award is established in Article 51 par. 3 of the International Commercial Arbitration Act, which refers to Art. 118-122 of the Code of Private International Law.

The competent court before which the claim for recognition and admission of the execution of the award of the foreign arbitral authority should be submitted is the Sofia City Court – pursuant to art. 51 par. 3 of the Law on International Commercial Arbitration and art. 118 par. 2 of the Code of Private International Law.

What are the prerequisites which the foreign arbitral award should meet in order to be recognized and enforced in Bulgaria?

They are provided for in Art. 5 of the New York Convention and in the respective application of art. 117 and art. 118-122 of the Code of Private International Law, namely:

  1. Validity of the arbitral clause/agreement, by virtue of which the parties have agreed that all or any differences/disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship shall be submitted to an arbitration; including the legal capacity of the parties at the time of the signing- meaning that the original of the agreement containing the arbitral clause or a duly certified copy of it should be applied;
  2. The composition of the arbitral authority or the arbitral procedure are in accordance with the agreement of the parties, or, failing such agreement, are in accordance with the law of the country where the arbitration has taken place;
  3. The party against whom the award is invoked has been given a proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings and has been able to defend itself in the proceedings- meaning that a copy of the arbitration claim has been presented to it, the parties have been duly summoned, the defendant has had the opportunity to submit a response to the claim, to make requests and objections, to present evidence, to challenge the evidence presented by the other party, etc.
  4. There is no other judgment of a Bulgarian court that has entered into force between the same parties and for the same dispute;
  5. There is no pending trial before a Bulgarian court between the same parties and for the same dispute, initiated before the foreign arbitration procedure in which the award was issued and the recognition and execution of which is requested;
  6. The award is issued to resolve a dispute provided for in the arbitration clause;
  7. The subject of the dispute under the foreign arbitral award shall be subject to arbitration in accordance with the Bulgarian law – as stipulated in art.19 of the Bulgarian Civil Procedure Code only property disputes, excluding such related to rights in rem or possession of immovable property, alimony, employment and consumer disputes, may be referred to arbitration;
  8. The foreign arbitral award is final and has become binding on the parties- it is necessary that the duly authenticated original award or a duly certified copy of it is presented.
  9. If the arbitral award or clause is not made in an official language of the country in which the award is relied upon, the party applying for recognition and enforcement of the award is obliged to present a translation of these documents into Bulgarian.
  10. The recognition and enforcement of the foreign arbitral award should not contradict the public order of the Republic of Bulgaria.

It is important to note that if any of the above prerequisites is absent and the party against whom recognition and enforcement is sought wishes to object, it should submit its objection within the time limit for replying to the claim at the latest.

The above procedure complies with the general provisions of the applicable Bulgarian law and the New York Convention. The provisions of multilateral or bilateral agreements on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards concluded between Bulgaria and specific countries have not been taken into account. In case there is an international agreement to which Republic of Bulgaria is a party, its provisions shall apply.