Bulgaria’s risky move to control Lukoil stirs fears

Bulgaria may seek permission to install a state-appointed manager at Lukoil Bulgaria to secure fuel supplies and facilitate an asset sale following new U.S. sanctions on Russian energy firms, according to Martin Vladimirov, who leads the Energy and Climate program at the Center for the Study of Democracy. He stressed this approach would not constitute nationalization.

The framework requires urgent legislative amendments to grant the manager authority to negotiate sales, Vladimirov told Bulgarian National Radio. Under current law, the manager can only handle daily operations using company funds for oil purchases and fuel sales, with profits held in trust for Lukoil. He noted the government hesitates to pursue this path due to administrative demands, but warned that waiting for a spontaneous resolution within three weeks is risky.

Germany received a six-month extension because it seized operational control of a Rosneft refinery back in 2022 and has actively worked toward selling it since then, Vladimirov explained. He added that Lukoil prefers buyers who maintain its Black Sea supply network linking Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey, where processed Russian oil enters European markets as Turkish products. Meanwhile, a Bulgarian parliamentary ban on diesel and aviation fuel exports could worsen fuel shortages in Serbia and encourage smuggling, he warned.