MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Lukoil has started reviewing its strategy regarding assets in Bulgaria, with sale of the business not ruled out, the Russian oil major said in a statement.
"In view of the significant change in the operating conditions of the Lukoil Group companies in Bulgaria, the company has commenced work to review its strategy with respect to this asset. Various options will be analyzed with the involvement of international consultants, including the sale of the business," the statement reads.
"The revision of the strategy is a consequence of the adoption by the Bulgarian state authorities of discriminatory laws and other unfair, biased political decisions towards the refinery, which have nothing to do either with the civilized regulation of big business or with increasing the revenue part of the country's budget. The artificially fanned political storm around the enterprise of a large international commercial structure, which is not subject to sanctions by the European Union and the United States, and which fulfils all its obligations to the state and its workers, harms the business of Lukoil, the investment climate in Bulgaria, inexorably destroys the image of the republic in the eyes of global business, negatively affects the revenues of the state budget," Lukoil said. The company will inform local authorities and the Lukoil Syndicate of Bulgarian Petrochemists about its further actions with respect to assets in the country.
In Bulgaria, Lukoil owns a refinery in Burgas, a chain of petrol stations and oil depots, as well as enterprises for bunkering ships and aircraft. The group has been actively investing in the development of its assets in Bulgaria for more than 20 years, with investments in the Burgas refinery having surpassed $3.4 bln, turning the plant into one of the most environmentally efficient and technologically advanced refineries in Europe, according to the report.
In 2022, the European Commission, as an exception, allowed Bulgaria to fulfill contracts for the purchase, import and transfer of Russian crude oil delivered to the country by sea until the end of 2024. However, in November deputies of the country’s parliamentary majority agreed on new restrictions on the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas plant as it is planned to ban it from using Russian oil for refining starting next March, while starting January it will no longer receive quotas on export of petroleum products. The profits tax has been raised to 60% for the refinery.
In turn, Lukoil Neftochim Burgas has warned of the threat of termination of its activities due to lifted quotas on export of oil products starting the beginning of next year.