site.btaPresident Vetoes Law Linked to Sale of Lukoil Assets in Bulgaria

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has vetoed legislative revisions making the sale of Lukoil's assets in Bulgaria contingent on a favourable opinion of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Press Secretariat of the Head of State said on Wednesday.

According to the Act to Supplement the Investment Promotion Act, passed on October 24, 2025, the sale of assets in Bulgaria owned by Lukoil would require a Council of Ministers decision adopted subject to a favourable opinion of SANS.

The law specified that SANS would conduct a preliminary research and would submit an opinion in writing before any transaction disposing of participating interests and shares in the capital of Lukoil-Bulgaria EOOD (a chain of over 200 filling stations), Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD (the largest oil refinery in the Balkans), Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria EOOD (an aircraft refuelling operation), and Sustainable Energy Supply EOOD (marketing and trading in natural gas and other hydrocarbons).

The revisions were rushed through Parliament by GERB-UDF after the US imposed sanctions on Lukoil on October 22, 2025. Effective November 22, 2025, all property and interests in property of these companies and their subsidiaries that fall under US jurisdiction, are blocked, and US persons and entities are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them without authorization.

Lukoil's majority shareholding in these companies via its Swiss-registered subsidiary LITASCO places them directly within the scope of the sanctions. 

In his reasons, the President argues that the law makes the Council of Ministers functionally and operationally dependent on a SANS opinion, which is constitutionally inadmissible. The Council of Ministers is the competent authority directing and implementing the country's domestic and foreign policy and ensuring public order and national security. For its part, SANS is a specialized authority under the Council of Ministers and may not compel, by its opinions,  the Council of Ministers to adopt particular decisions. Otherwise, the Council of Ministers is unable to exercise its constitutional power. This in itself is incompatible with the logic of the functioning of the structures of the executive branch of government. 

"The Investment Promotion Act already regulates a screening procedure for foreign investments that can potentially jeopardize national security. This procedure takes into account not only the SANS opinion on possible transactions but also the opinion of the State Intelligence Agency and also of a number of other state bodies," the reasons read. "The imposition of additional conditions for specifically named companies moreover does not comply with the requirements of EU law and runs counter to both the letter and meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act," Radev points out.

According to the head of State, the revisions to the Investment Promotion Act also raise a number of questions regarding the attainment of the objectives stated by the sponsors of the draft legislation.