site.btaDemocratic Bulgaria to Seek Explanations from PM and Energy Minister on Fuel Situation

Democratic Bulgaria Co-Chair Atanas Atanassov told reporters in Parliament here on Friday that his party is planning to submitting a written request for Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov to come to Parliament and explain the situation with fuel and what plan they have to resolve it. Atanassov said that the fuel situation and the recent events surrounding the Russian oil company Lukoil in Bulgaria and the potential sale of its assets is becoming more complicated.

The MP said that public tension is rising, as citizens are wondering whether fuel will be available for sale and at what prices.

After the US Treasury Department called Gunvor Russia's puppet, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP Ivaylo Mirchev suggested that from November 21, the Bulgarian refinery in Burgas will be unable to carry out financial transactions, which poses a risk both to the fuel market and to the refinery itself.

Mirchev also stated that there is no information on whether there are 90-day reserves and no information on what steps the government has taken. It is public knowledge that some companies do not deliver the necessary fuel reserves to the state reserve warehouses, said the MP. According to him, this is a practice that has been going on for years.

CC-DB Co-Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov said that it is unacceptable that for weeks the National Assembly has been kept in the dark about what is going on. He added that he has notified Zhelyazkov about this and has offered to provide him with the information available to CC-DB.

Asked whether a special administrator should be appointed in Lukoil Bulgaria and whether their authority should be expanded, Denkov said that all options should be considered, since the refinery should continue to run, even if it has no new owner on November 21.