Bulgaria strengthens oversight of Lukoil to secure fuel supply

(MENAFN) The Bulgarian parliament approved a law Friday granting the state expanded authority over Lukoil’s operations, aiming to safeguard the nation’s fuel supply in light of potential Russian sanctions, according to reports. The legislation amends the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products, strengthening the powers of a special commercial administrator assigned to oversee key energy infrastructure.

The amendments were prompted by plans to appoint a special administrator at the Bulgarian unit of the Russian oil company Lukoil, specifically at its refinery in Burgas, Bulgaria’s second-largest city on the Black Sea coast. Lawmakers from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, GERB-UDF Is Such a People, and BSP-United Left supported the bill, which first passed the National Assembly’s Energy Committee before moving to the full House for consideration.

A second reading of the proposal was suggested during the same session by Stanislav Anastasov of MRF–New Beginning, though the Vazrazhdane party opposed the measure, submitting its own proposals to remove certain provisions. The amendments are set to take effect on the day they are published in the State Gazette.

The legislation comes amid growing concerns that U.S. sanctions on Lukoil OAO assets could force the shutdown of Bulgaria’s only oil refinery, Lukoil Neftochim, potentially disrupting domestic fuel supplies.

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