site.btaUPDATED Parliament Overrides Presidential Veto on Amendments Related to Sale of Lukoil Assets in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Parliament on Thursday overrode President Rumen Radev’s veto on amendments to the Investment Promotion Act and re-adopted the revisions with 125 votes in favour, 74 against, and no abstentions. The approved changes stipulate that the sale of assets belonging to the Russian oil company Lukoil in Bulgaria will require a decision by the Council of Ministers, based on a positive opinion from the State Agency for National Security (SANS).

The amendments were supported by GERB-UDF, MRF - New Beginning, BSP - United Left, There Is Such a People, one MP from the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF), and three independent MPs. Those voting against included members of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane, 12 MPs from ARF, and the MECh group. The Velichie party did not take part in the vote.

Earlier on Thursday, the parliamentary sitting was suspended to allow for an extraordinary sitting of the Energy Committee, which rejected the President’s veto. The bill was then added to the plenary agenda and put to a final vote.

During the parliamentary debate, Vazrazhdane MP Iskra Mihaylova criticized the procedure, emphasizing that the re-adopted revisions “literally declare that Bulgaria is not a state governed by the rule of law”. She added that legislation should not target a single entity, whether physical or legal. “This law will not resolve anything regarding Lukoil, on the contrary, it opens the door to serious manipulation,” Mihaylova said.

Stanislav Anastassov of MRF - New Beginning replied that Vazrazhdane was “once again defending Russian interests,” adding that “if the President’s motives are not driven by sympathy for Russia, then they must be driven by something else”. “The law’s mechanism was clear and aimed to ensure that the Burgas refinery does not again end up in the hands of a company managing [Russian] President Putin’s personal assets,” Anastassov said.

Vasil Stefanov of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria argued that SANS cannot stand above the Council of Ministers and predicted that the amendments would be challenged before the Constitutional Court and annulled. Stefanov pointed out that the Cyprus-based company Gunvor, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, was negotiating to acquire Lukoil International, the owner of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, through intermediary companies. “Can anyone from the bill’s sponsors explain how SANS could block a share transfer deal in Cyprus? It simply cannot,” he said, adding that the only outcome would be that the new owner would declare a change in beneficial ownership in Bulgaria’s Commercial Register.