site.bta3 Parliamentary Groups Move for Ban on Russian Oil Imports in Bulgaria

MPs of GERB-UDF, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms on late Friday evening tabled draft legislation that would halt the supplies and processing in Bulgaria of crude oil originating in or exported from Russia.

Technically, the ban would be imposed by amendments to the Act on Control over the Application of the Restrictive Measures in View of Russia's Actions Destabilising the Situation in Ukraine, whereby Bulgaria would repeal a derogation from the relevant EU regulation that it was allowed until the end of 2024.

The repeal should be effected by the Government within one month after the entry into force of the amending law or within a longer time period at the discretion of the Council of Ministers' Council on Security.

The bill, however, will not be considered before early September, when the legislature will reconvene after a summer recess.

By the same draft act, the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products would be revised to alter the procedure for the appointment of a special business administrator at the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas oil refinery if there are circumstances endangering national security or where international restrictive measures have been imposed. The special business administrator would be appointed by Parliament for an initial period of six months on a proposal by the government. 

According to parliamentary Energy Committee Chair Delyan Dobrev MP of GERB-UDF, Russia will cease to be financed as a result of scrapping the derogation. "Since the derogation was introduced, the only ones profiting from it have been Lukoil and Litasco, Bulgarian consumers do not gain anything," he emphasized. He was referring to the refinery's parent company which is registered in Switzerland.

Dobrev argued that, under the law, the refinery has been supposed to pay into the Electricity System Security Fund 70% of the excessive profit it is making thanks to the derogation, starting from January 24, 2023, but no payments whatsoever have been made so far. "In my opinion, we have tolerated Lukoil long enough, they have taken advantage of this derogation for their own benefit only," the MP argued.

Dobrev added that there is not a shred of evidence to prove that the Burgas refinery cannot run entirely on non-Russian oil.