site.btaMotion to Scrap Immediately Lukoil's Exemption from EU Russian Oil Ban Stumbles on First Hurdle in Parliament

On 5-4 votes with five abstentions, the parliamentary energy committee voted down a motion to scrap Lukoil's exemption from a EU ban on Russian oil within three days from the entry into force of the bill.

In 2022, the European Commission granted Bulgaria a derogation from the EU embargo on oil imports from Russia due to the country's specific geographic exposure. Under the effective legislation, the exemption is to be conclusively revoked on October 1, 2024, three months ahead of the December 31, 2024 deadline.

The faster scrapping of the exemption was proposed by MP Delyan Dobrev on November 10, 2023 in the wake of the release of an international report saying that the Kremlin has generated EUR 1 bln profits from fuel exports through Bulgaria and Lukoil.