site.btaBulgaria Faces "No Extra US Conditions" for Lukoil Sanctions Derogation

Bulgaria has no additional conditions from the United States for the exception to the sanctions imposed on Lukoil to enter into force, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov told Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on Sunday.

Stankov said that if needed, the postponement of the sanctions against Lukoil can be extended. He noted that after Washington granted the derogation, the tension that had built up has now been overcome.

"There are no additional conditions that have been set. On the contrary, the transactions and the way in which the derogation has been granted certainly provide reassurance to the financial institutions in our country so that they can continue offering their services to these enterprises. Something extremely important that I must mention is that a letter was received last week that was concerning, and in order not to alarm the public we did not rush to share it. Namely, that the major companies with which bank cards operate had also informed the banking institutions to terminate activity with these cards. Now, on the basis of this new derogation, I am certain that this has been overcome and everything will be stable," said Stankov.

In a separate interview with Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), the Energy Minister said that if a sale of Lukoil assets begins only in Bulgaria, there is a screening mechanism headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev. According to him, through the State Agency for National Security and through this screening committee the state can guarantee itself 100% screening and be the final instance to decide whether it agrees or not with such a deal, with the aim of ensuring the security of supplies in the country.

The minister said that if the parent company Lukoil sells its assets in Europe during the period of the derogation granted to Bulgaria, then the sanctions on all companies will be lifted, and in this case the Bulgarian authorities will not need to take any action. But if such deals do not take place along the chain, the natural step would be to request an extension of the derogation.

The special commercial administrator, appointed on November 14 to oversee Lukoil's four companies in Bulgaria, must receive government permission for every specific activity, as required by law, Stankov said. "He has not been given the powers that are being suggested in public commentary - as if he could wake up with some grand idea and act on it; on the contrary. The supervisory body is the Council of Ministers, which can authorize or prohibit his actions," Stankov said.

The Energy Minister added that he learned about the nomination of Rumen Spetsov as special commercial administrator for Lukoil in Bulgaria minutes before the Security Council meeting at the Prime Minister's office, after which Spetsov's appointment was officially announced. Stankov said he was not part of the team that presented the nominations.

"As of today [Sunday], we have a six-month supply of petrol, a four-month supply of diesel fuel, and a two-month supply of aviation fuel to meet the needs of all airlines," the Energy Minister said.