site.btaPresident Radev: Oil Refinery in Burgas Needs Reliable Owner, State Intervention an Emergency Option

The oil refinery in Burgas must have a reliable owner with the capacity to develop it, while State intervention in its management should be only an emergency measure, President Rumen Radev said here on Friday after visiting the 61st Stryama Mechanized Brigade in Karlovo.

“I am concerned that the State, with its current governance, could lead us to a ‘Bulgartabac’ scenario,” the President commented, referring to the possibility of the Government taking control over Lukoil Neftochim Burgas. 

Backrgound

Radev's remarks came as lawmakers are discussing the Lukoil Bulgaria case after Swiss commodities trader Gunvor announced that it is withdrawing its proposal to acquire the foreign assets of the Russian energy company Lukoil. Gunvor’s decision came after the U.S. Department of the Treasury described the company as “Russia's puppet.” On Friday morning, the ruling coalition tabled in Parliament a bill introducing the figure of a special commercial administrator at Lukoil Bulgaria. 

On October 22, 2025, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) expanded its sanctions on Russia by designating that country's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, under Executive Order 14024. The idea is to step up economic pressure on Russia's energy sector, which is a critical source of revenue for the Kremlin's military operations in Ukraine.

In Bulgaria, Lukoil owns Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, the largest oil refinery in the Balkans, through its Swiss-registered subsidiary LITASCO, which holds a 89.97% stake in the facility. Another 9.88% of the refinery belong to another Lukoil affiliate, Lukoil Oil Company. The remaining 0.15% of the capital is distributed among over 7,700 individual and corporate shareholders.

Lukoil also owns Lukoil Bulgaria, a leading Bulgarian motor fuel retail company, via LITASCO.

According to the Commission for Protection of Competition, Lukoil Bulgaria has a relatively large market share in this country and is a market leader in the wholesale of automotive fuel, with a share fluctuating between 40-50% and 50-60%.

It is Lukoil's 89.97% shareholding via LITASCO that places these key Bulgarian energy assets directly within the scope of the sanctions. The sanctions are expected to affect its ability to operate normally within the global financial system, potentially limiting its access to international banking services and supply chains that rely on US dollars or entities.

This has raised concerns in Bulgaria regarding the security of fuel supply and economic impacts, prompting the government to explore legal and administrative options to ensure the refinery's continued operation and mitigate disruptions of the country's energy infrastructure.

There have also been calls for re-nationalization of the oil refinery, which was privatized by stages between 1997 and 2009.