site.btaCC-DB MP Mirchev: Bulgaria Must Urgently Request Its Fuel Reserves Held Abroad

Bulgaria does not currently have 90-day fuel reserves because some companies connected to [MRF-New Beginning leader] Delyan Peevski are circumventing their obligation to maintain stocks for that period, said Yes, Bulgaria Co-Chair and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP Ivaylo Mirchev in a Facebook post, quoted by his party’s press centre on Tuesday.

“Bulgaria must urgently request its fuel reserves stored abroad. The head of the [State Agency] State Reserve [and Wartime Stocks] has just confirmed what I have been saying since the beginning of the crisis with the sanctions against Lukoil — our 90-day fuel reserves are not actually 90-day reserves,” Mirchev warned. 

Asen Asenov, Chair of the State Agency State Reserve and Wartime Stocks, said in an interview with bTV earlier on Tuesday that Bulgaria has petrol reserves sufficient for about 35 days and diesel reserves for more than 50 days.

Mirchev accused companies linked to Peevski of cutting costs and emphasized that they have both working capital and available storage capacity.

“In order to avoid their legal obligation and save expenses, they clearly enjoy institutional and prosecutorial protection, involving the state reserve, the State Agency for National Security (SANS), and the Government. They probably also enjoy  protection from the Administrative Court in Plovdiv, where for more than 10 years the preliminary execution of reserve allocation orders — as required by law — has been suspended,” Mirchev added.

The CC-DB MP further noted that the 90-day reserves include fuels stored in Lukoil’s facilities, making use of the company’s pipeline. Part of the reserves are not in the form of gasoline or diesel but in crude oil that must be processed at Lukoil’s refinery.

“If on November 21 the refinery and its subsidiaries stop operating due to the U.S. sanctions and are unable to carry out transactions — what happens to the refinery’s operations, to the crude oil (from the reserves) that needs to be processed, and to the depots storing gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel? It turns out that by blocking Lukoil’s companies, part of the 90-day reserves will also be blocked,” Mirchev warned.

He stressed that the problem is not the lack of fuel, but the fact that after November 21, the State will have no way to pay Lukoil if the sanctions take effect and the US does not make an exception.

“One thing is clear — Bulgaria must immediately take action to ensure that 100% of its fuel reserves are available on this country’s territory,” Mirchev concluded.