Lukoil Neftohim has secured its crude oil supply through the end of September

Lukoil Neftohim has already secured the necessary oil supplies through the end of September, and negotiations are currently underway to secure supplies through the end of October. This was announced by the company’s special commercial manager, Evgeni Simeonov. He, along with Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Pulev, held a joint briefing regarding the license extension issued by the United Kingdom allowing Lukoil to continue its operations in Bulgaria.

There is oil and there will be oil; there are fuels and there will be fuels. All oil is purchased from global giants. Here, I want to dispel any doubts and speculation – we do not buy and will not buy oil from sanctioned companies,” he added.

According to him, processing at the refinery has increased significantly over the past two months.

Lukoil Bulgaria is having its best month in the last 5 – 6 years in Bulgaria. We’re over 30% ahead of schedule,” he added.

He also noted that fuel prices in Bulgaria are influenced by all the international factors that affect prices throughout Europe.

Due to the geopolitical situation, many refineries in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf are not operating. This is leading to severe shortages of liquid fuels in Europe and around the world,” stated Evgeni Simeonov.

According to him, the markup applied by Lukoil is “minimal.”

We are managing to maintain reasonable fuel prices in Bulgaria, which we expect to drop in the coming months. There will be no sudden price spike,” Simeonov assured.

Synchronization of Derogations

We remind readers that the Russian company is subject to both U.S. and British sanctions. With London’s extension of the exemption until October 29, the deadline now aligns with the exemption already granted by Washington.

The idea is that from now on there will be no divergence and we will not enter into separate, parallel negotiation processes,” said Minister Pulev.

The Deputy Prime Minister was adamant that without the license extension, the refinery would have faced “a series of financial and operational difficulties that would have led to an increase and a sharp rise in fuel prices.”

And when fuel prices rise, so do the costs of transportation, logistics, and production – and ultimately, the prices of goods and services for Bulgarian citizens and businesses,” he added.

The Minister of Economy emphasized that for the government, this issue has never been merely about a single refinery.

This is a matter of national security, energy security, economic stability, and consumer protection,” Pulev stated.

Negotiations on the Sale of Lukoil

The Deputy Prime Minister has information that “some kind of negotiations” are underway between various strategic investors, partners, and consortia, but these are taking place at the holding company level in Russia.

The Bulgarian asset and the group of companies are part of the overall deal, which is currently the subject of active negotiations,” he said.

He clarified that the Bulgarian side is not an active participant in these negotiations and that they are taking place at the holding company level.

According to Pulev, if a strategic decision is made by the Russian owners and approved by Bulgaria’s strategic partners, and a decision is made to conduct negotiations on a separate basis regarding the assets in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government will comply with it.

Translated with DeepL.