site.btaGovernment's Security Council Discusses Possible Effect of Scrapping of EU Exemption from Ban on Russian Oil Imports

The Security Council at the Council of Ministers discussed potential effects of a possible termination of a derogation from a EU regulation banning the supplies and processing in Bulgaria of crude oil originating in or exported from Russia that this country was allowed until the end of 2024, the government information service said. The possible effects were presented in reports by the Economy and Industry Ministry along with the Finance Ministry, the Transport and Communications Ministry, the State Agency for National Security, the State Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Service.

Decisions on the analyses will be made at the next Security Council meeting and will be proposed to the government.

In 2022, the European Commission granted Bulgaria a special temporary derogation from the EU's embargo on oil imports until the end of 2024 due to its specific geographical exposure. Before Parliament's summer recess, MPs of GERB-UDF, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms tabled draft legislation that would halt the supplies and processing in Bulgaria of crude oil originating in or exported from Russia.