Treaty of Neuilly/Part VII

Part VII&mdash;Reparation

Article 121
Bulgaria recognises that, by joining in the war of aggression which Germany and Austria-Hungary waged against the Allied and Associated Powers, she has caused to the latter losses and sacrifices of all kinds, for which she ought to make complete reparation.

On the other hand, the Allied and Associated Powers recognise that the resources of Bulgaria are not sufficient to enable her to make complete reparation.

Bulgaria, therefore, agrees to pay, and the Allied and Associated Powers agree to accept, as being such reparation as Bulgaria is able to make, the sum of 2,250,000,000 (two and a quarter milliards) francs gold.

This amount shall (except as hereinafter provided) be discharged by a series of half-yearly payments on 1 January and 1 July in each year, beginning on 1 July 1920.

The payments on 1 July 1920 and 1 January 1921 shall represent interest at the rate of 2 percent per annum from 1 January 1920 on the total sum due by Bulgaria. Thereafter, each half-yearly payment shall include, besides the payment of interest at 5 percent per annum, the provision of a sinking fund sufficient to extinguish the total amount due by Bulgaria in 37 years from 1 January 1921.

These sums shall be remitted through the Inter-Allied Commission referred to in Article 130 to the Reparation Commission created by the Treaty of Peace with Germany of 28 June 1919, as constituted by the Treaty with Austria of 10 September 1919, Part VIII, Annex II, paragraph 2 (this Commission is hereinafter referred to as the Reparation Commission), and shall be disposed of by the Reparation Commission in accordance with the arrangements already made.

Payments required in accordance with the preceding stipulations to be made in cash may at any time be accepted by the Reparation Commission, on the proposal of the Inter-Allied Commission, in the form of chattels, properties, commodities, rights, concessions, within or without Bulgarian territory, ships, bonds, shares or securities of any kind, or currency of Bulgaria or of other States, the value of such substitutes for gold being fixed at a fair and just amount by the Reparation Commission itself.

If the Reparation Commission desires at any time to dispose, either by sale or otherwise, of gold bonds based on the payments to be made by Bulgaria, it shall have power to do so. The nominal amount of the bonds shall be fixed by it, after taking due account of the provisions of Articles 122, 123 and 129 of this Part, in consultation with the Inter-Allied Commission, but shall in no case exceed the total capital sums due by Bulgaria then outstanding.

Bulgaria undertakes in such case to deliver to the Reparation Commission, through the Inter-Allied Commission, the necessary bonds in such form, number, denominations and terms as the Reparation Commission may determine.

These bonds shall be direct obligations of the Bulgarian Government, but all arrangements for the service of the bonds shall be made by the Inter-Allied Commission. The Inter-Allied Commission shall pay all interest, sinking fund, or other charges connected with the bonds out of the half-yearly payments to be made by Bulgaria in accordance with this Article. The surplus, if any, shall continue to be paid to the order of the Reparation Commission.

These bonds shall be free of all taxes and charges of every description established or to be established by Bulgaria.

Article 122
The Inter-Allied Commission shall from time to time consider the resources and capacity of Bulgaria, and, after giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to recommend to the Reparation Commission either a reduction or a postponement of any particular payment due or a reduction of the total capital sum to be paid by Bulgaria.

The Reparation Commission shall have power by a majority of votes to make any reduction or postponement up to the extent recommended by the Inter-Allied Commission.

Article 123
Bulgaria shall have the power at any time, if she so desires, to make immediate payments in reduction of the total capital sum due over and above the half-yearly payments.

Article 124
Bulgaria recognises the transfer to the Allied and Associated Powers of any claims to payment or repayment which Germany, Austria, Hungary or Turkey may have against her, in accordance with Article 261 of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, and the corresponding Articles of the Treaties with Austria, Hungary and Turkey.

The Allied and Associated Powers, on the other hand, agree not to require from Bulgaria any payment in respect of claims so transferred, as they have taken these claims into account in fixing the amount to be paid by Bulgaria under Article 121.

Article 125
In addition to the payments mentioned in Article 121, Bulgaria undertakes to return, in accordance with the procedure to be laid down by the Inter-Allied Commission, objects of any nature and securities taken away, seized or sequestrated in the territory invaded in Greece, Roumania or Serbia, in cases in which it is possible to identify them in Bulgarian territory, except in the case of livestock, which shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 127.

For this purpose the Governments of Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall deliver to the Inter-Allied Commission within four months from the coming into force of the present Treaty lists of the objects and securities which they can prove to have been carried off from the invaded territories and which can be identified and found in Bulgarian territory. They will also give at the same time all information possible to assist in the discovery and identification of these articles.

The Bulgarian Government undertakes to facilitate by all means in its power the discovery of the said objects and securities, and to pass within three months from the coming into force of the present Treaty a law requiring all Bulgarian nationals to disclose all such objects and securities in their possession under penalty of being treated as receivers of stolen goods.

Article 126
Bulgaria undertakes to seek for and forthwith to return to Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State respectively any records or archives or any articles of archaeological, historic or artistic interest which have been taken away from the territories of those countries during the present war.

Any dispute between the Powers abovenamed and Bulgaria as to their ownership of any such articles shall be referred to an arbitrator to be appointed by the Inter-Allied Commission, and whose decision shall be final.

Article 127
Bulgaria further undertakes to deliver to Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, live-stock of the descriptions and in the numbers set out hereunder:

These animals shall be delivered at such places as may be appointed by the respective Governments. They shall be inspected before delivery by agents appointed by the Inter-Allied Commission, who shall satisfy themselves that the animals so delivered are of average health and condition.

No credit shall be made to Bulgaria in respect of their value; the animals handed over shall be regarded as having been delivered in restitution for animals taken away by Bulgaria during the war from the territories of the countries named.

In addition to the deliveries provided for above, the Inter-Allied Commission shall be at liberty to grant, if they find it possible to do so, to Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, within two years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, such quantities of livestock as they may consider themselves justified in so granting. The value of such deliveries shall be placed to the credit of Bulgaria.

Article 128
By way of special compensation for the destruction caused to the coalmines situated on Serbian territory occupied by the Bulgarian armies, Bulgaria undertakes, subject to the proviso contained in the final paragraph of this Article, to deliver to the Serb-Croat-Slovene State during five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty 50,000 tons of coal a year from the output of the Bulgarian State mines at Pernik. These deliveries shall be made free on rail on the Serb-Croat-Slovene frontier on the Pirot-Sofia railway.

The value of these deliveries will not be credited to Bulgaria, and will not be taken in diminution of the payment required under Article 121.

Provided, nevertheless, that these deliveries will only be made subject to the approval of the Inter-Allied Commission, which approval shall only be given if and in so far as the Commission is satisfied that such deliveries of coal will not unduly interfere with the economic life of Bulgaria; the decision of the Commission on this point shall be final.

Article 129
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Bulgaria in respect of her reparation obligations:

Amounts which the Reparation Commission may consider should be credited to Bulgaria under Part VIII (Financial Clauses), Part IX (Economic Clauses) and Part XI (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty.

Article 130
In order to facilitate the discharge by Bulgaria of the obligations assumed by her under the present Treaty, there shall be established at Sofia as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty an Inter-Allied Commission.

The Commission shall be composed of three members to be appointed respectively by the Governments of the British Empire, France and Italy. Each Government represented on the Commission shall have the right to withdraw therefrom upon six months' notice filed with the Commission.

Bulgaria shall be represented by a Commissioner, who shall take part in the sittings of the Commission whenever invited by the Commission to do so, but shall not have the right to vote.

The Commission shall be constituted in the form and shall possess the powers prescribed by the present Treaty, including the Annex to this Part.

The Commission shall continue in existence as long as any of the payments due under the terms of this Part of the present Treaty remain unpaid.

The members of the Commission shall enjoy the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed in Bulgaria by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly Powers.

The Bulgarian Government agrees to provide by law, within six months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the authority necessary for enabling the Commission to carry out its duties. The text of this law must be approved in advance by the Powers represented on the Commission. It must conform to the principles and rules laid down in the Annex to this Part, and also to any other relevant provisions laid down in the present Treaty.

Article 131
Bulgaria undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give effect to the provisions of this Part.

Annex [to Part VII]
1. The Commission shall elect a Chairman annually from its members, and it shall establish its own rules and procedure.

Each member shall have the right to nominate a deputy to act for him in his absence.

Decisions shall be taken by the vote of the majority, except when a unanimous vote is expressly required. Abstention from voting is to be treated as a vote against the proposal under discussion.

The Commission shall appoint such agents and employees as it may deem necessary for its work.

The costs and expenses of the Commission shall be paid by Bulgaria and shall be a first charge on the revenues payable to the Commission. The salaries of the members of the Commission shall be fixed on a reasonable scale by agreement from time to time between the Governments represented on the Commission.

2. Bulgaria undertakes to afford to the members, officers and agents of the Commission full power to visit and inspect at all reasonable times any places, public works or undertakings in Bulgaria, and to furnish to the said Commission all records, documents and information which it may require.

3. The Bulgarian Government undertakes to place at the disposal of the Commission in each half-year sufficient sums in francs gold, or such other currency as the Commission may decide, to enable it to remit at due date the payments due on account of reparation or of other obligations undertaken by Bulgaria under the present Treaty.

In the law relating to the working of the Commission, there shall be prescribed a list of the taxes and revenues (now existing or hereafter to be created) estimated to be sufficient to produce the sums above referred to. This list of taxes and revenues shall include all revenues or receipts arising from concessions made or to be made for the working of mines or quarries or for the carrying on of any works of public utility or of any monopolies for the manufacture or sale of any articles in Bulgaria. This list of taxes and revenues may be altered from time to time with the unanimous consent of the Commission.

If at any time the revenues so assigned shall prove insufficient, the Bulgarian Government undertakes to assign additional revenues. If the Bulgarian Government does not assign sufficient revenues within three months of a demand by the Commission, the Commission shall have the right to add to the list additional revenues created or to be created, and the Bulgarian Government undertakes to pass the necessary legislation.

In case of default by Bulgaria in the performance of her obligations under Articles 121 and 130 and this Annex the Commission shall be entitled to assume to the extent and for the period fixed by it the full control and management of and to undertake the collection of such taxes and sources of revenue and to hold and disburse the proceeds thereof, and to apply any net proceeds after meeting the cost of administration and collection to the satisfaction of the reparation obligations of Bulgaria, subject to any priorities laid down in the present Treaty.

In the case of such action by the Commission, Bulgaria undertakes to recognise the authority and powers of the said Commission, to abide by its decisions and to obey its directions.

4. By agreement with the Bulgarian Government, the Commission shall have power to assume the control and management and the collection of any taxes, even if no default has occurred.

5. The Commission shall also take over any other duties which may be assigned to it under the present Treaty.

6. No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the Government appointing him, for any action or omission in the performance of his duties. No one of the Allied or Associated Governments assumes any responsibility in respect of any other Government.