Lukoil may sell its assets in Bulgaria

Russian Lukoil is going to sell the largest oil refinery in South-Eastern Europe and other assets in Bulgaria.

As early as this week, the Bulgarian parliament may approve new rules that provide for the suspension of all imports of Russian oil from March and the reduction of exports of some oil refining products, writes Bloomberg.

If these legislative amendments are adopted, the Lukoil oil refinery will be forced to stop working. The company will have to sell its businesses, including 220 gas stations and 9 oil depots, as well as ship and aircraft bunkering businesses.

Last month, Lukoil said it was exploring the possibility of selling the business because of “discriminatory laws and other unfair, biased policy decisions on refineries.”

In his turn, the Minister of Finance of Bulgaria, Assen Vasilev, rejected the accusation of discrimination. He stated that the government would need to secure the operation of the refinery, possibly with a strategic investor.

It will be recalled that in July the Bulgarian government already terminated Lukoil’s lease of an oil refinery terminal, and at the beginning of this year, the antimonopoly authorities fined the company’s Bulgarian branches a total of 146 million dollars for abusing a dominant position.

With these measures, Bulgaria is going to finally stop the import of oil from Russia and the export of oil refining products.