site.btaAppointing Special Administrator at Lukoil Is Right Decision, Says Yes Bulgaria Co-Chair Ivaylo Mirchev

Appointing a special administrator to enable the state to assume operational control over Lukoil Neftochim Burgas is the right decision, Yes, Bulgaria Co-Chair Ivaylo Mirchev told Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday, as quoted by the party’s press centre. Mirchev said that the so-called special administrator would oversee all aspects of the company’s operations except its ownership.

He referred to the amendments to the Investment Promotion Act, passed on Friday at second reading in Parliament, under which the sale of Lukoil’s assets in Bulgaria will now require a Cabinet decision following a positive opinion by the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

Mirchev said that ownership of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas should no longer be Russian, adding that every effort should be made to ensure a change in ownership. He said that GERB Chair Boyko Borissov should “stop bowing to Trump and Putin over the derogation” and instead “stand tall and state that Bulgaria does not need Russian ownership”.

Mirchev also said the government had so far remained silent on whether the mandatory 90-day fuel reserves required by law were actually available. He noted that his party had concerns that the reserves were not in place. For that reason, Mirchev said, the party had requested a hearing of the ministers in the parliamentary energy committee immediately after the sanctions were announced. When the ruling majority refused, he added, Yes, Bulgaria demanded that such a hearing be held in the National Assembly

Mirchev also commented on the 2026 state budget, saying the key question was whether the government would be able to avoid a debt spiral and prevent a “Romanian scenario”. He claimed that over BGN 70 million in new debt was being incurred every day and questioned where the money — which future generations would have to repay — was going, saying Prime Minister Borissov owed an answer to that question.

According to Yes, Bulgaria, the country should have a balanced budget, and the state should stop spending money it does not have, especially when it is not being used for investment or economic growth but for public sector wages.

Mirchev said that funds for pensioners were not the real issue, but rather the billions earmarked for what he described as potential misuse. He pointed out that BGN 7 billion in the 2025 budget had been allocated “off the books” through the Bulgarian Development Bank, while the government continued to expand the public administration. He said the package of right-wing measures proposed by Yes, Bulgaria included a range of steps to optimize public spending and streamline the administration.

Mirchev added that the formal entry of Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning into the governing coalition confirmed the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria thesis that prompted the September no-confidence motion, namely, that Bulgaria was turning into a captured state where “one man decides what happens to everyone else”.