site.btaGERB Leader Borissov Hopes Bulgaria Will Receive Six-month Derogation in Response to US Sanctions Against Lukoil

At the National Assembly on Friday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said he hopes Bulgaria will receive a six-month derogation, similar to Germany’s in response to US sanctions against Lukoil, and that this could happen as early as today. “I hope that today we receive a derogation like Germany’s six months, so that we can do everything that needs to be done without any haste,” he told reporters in the parliamentary lobby.

Borissov explained that after Friday’s Security Council meeting, the Prime Minister will announce who will be appointed as the special commercial administrator of Lukoil. The choice will be a single individual, he said. Asked whether the nominee is Petko Nikolov, Borissov replied that it is not. He added that the proposed special commercial administrator has been coordinated with him as GERB leader, and that it is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to coordinate the choice with the other coalition partners as well. Borissov said he does not know whether this has already been done with the leader of Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, Delyan Peevski.

According to Borissov, the candidate has the necessary experience and is not connected to Insa Oil or to Peevski. “Let them appoint the special commercial administrator. You see how dynamic global events are, US investment funds that manage assets in the trillions of US dollars are emerging, ready to buy the entire company and all of its business,” Borissov said when asked whether Lukoil’s Bulgarian operations might be acquired through the Bulgarian Energy Holding.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding company is 100% owned by the Bulgarian government. It is the largest state-owned company in the country on the basis of owned assets. It is the holding company for a group of companies which are engaged in electricity generation, supply and transmission, natural gas transmission, supply and storage and coal mining.

Insa Oil is a privately owned group of Bulgarian companies engaged in the production and trade of petroleum products.

Petko Nikolov is the former long-time head of the Commission for Protection of Competition. In 2008, the CPC, under Nikolov’s leadership announced that it was investigating Lukoil in Bulgaria for monopolistic price increases. Despite suspicions of anti-competitive practices over the years there were no sanctions against the Russian company. In 2024, Nikolov was appointed Economy Minister in Dimitar Glavchev's caretaker government. Nikolov is a lawyer and economist by education.

"Government debt has been growing over the past four years, but not at the expense of Bulgarian citizens, because the money goes to salaries, Bulgarian pensioners will receive BGN 1.1 billion more next year, nearly a billion more will go to Bulgarian doctors, and billions will go into people's wages," Borissov said, commenting on the draft budget for 2026, which was submitted to the National Assembly Thursday. According to him, as long as there is a regular government, the decisions are permanent. The leader of GERB believes that the cabinet will serve its full term.

When asked whether they are considering limiting bonuses in the state administration, Borissov pointed out that this is a public debate that can be held and the parties can say whether it should happen or not. "One budget cannot cover everything," Borissov added.

Tzvetan Vassilev had visited his home in Bankya, Borissov confirmed. When asked why, he said that he himself had been in opposition at the time, people liked to come and talk to him, but he could not remember what they had talked about because it was 15 years ago. He added that he did not know why Vassilev was afraid of Delyan Peevski. "After I became prime minister, we covered the hole in Corporate Commercial Bank with BGN 3.5 billion, and all depositors got their money back," GERB's leader said.

Tzvetan Vassilev is a Bulgarian entrepreneur, former majority shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of Corporate Commercial Bank, the fifth-largest Bulgarian bank based on assets, which collapsed in 2014 after a bank run.

"I have long since stopped commenting on the decisions of Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev," Borissov said in connection with the municipality's intention to raise hourly parking prices in the blue and green zones in the capital. "He tries to find justification for every decision he introduces. Now, that GERB supported him, did you hear him thank anyone," Borissov added.

On Thursday, the Sofia Municipal Council expanded the scope of paid parking zones on the territory of the capital from January 5, 2026, and increased the prices of parking fees.