The four companies of "Lukoil" in Bulgaria will be subject to an external audit. The special administrator appointed by the state is in negotiations with international accounting firms about the scope of the audit, with two of them having expressed interest in participating.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Alexander Pulev to the deputies of the Economic Committee on Wednesday. He explained that the administrator Evgeni Simeonov, appointed a month ago by Radev's government, had conducted an internal analysis of the current state of the four companies of "Lukoil" and considered it necessary to conduct an external audit to "establish and validate his concerns". The results of this audit will also determine what actions will be taken.
The Deputy Prime Minister has no concerns regarding the approaching deadline for the derogation from the sanctions imposed by the UK - August 13. Pulev believes that the derogation will be extended and there will be no problem for the work of the Burgas refinery and the other three companies. He explained that the government is in active dialogue with all institutions in an attempt to assure them that the "Lukoil" companies in Bulgaria are not violating the sanctions. There have been meetings with the British embassy, and Prime Minister Rumen Radev has also spoken with the Prime Minister of the UK, although it is not clear when this took place.
The UK has requested more information about the government's meeting with the Swiss company "Litasko", the majority owner of "Lukoil Neftokhim". After this meeting, it became clear that for several months the owner of the Burgas refinery had imposed restrictions on it from buying crude oil from traders registered in Switzerland, but has already lifted the seizures.
"The meeting and the agreement with the Swiss company "Litasko" are not in violation of the sanctions regime. We reassured the British partners that there was no violation of the derogation, we showed full transparency at the meeting, it was initiated by "Litasko" from today to tomorrow," Pulev said.
The Deputy Prime Minister explained to the deputies of the economic committee that the previous special commercial manager Rumen Spetsov did not inform the government about the seizures imposed on "Lukoil Neftokhim". This happened at the end of last year, after "Litasko" has requested that the Burgas refinery repay a loan of 400 million euros granted in 2023 ahead of schedule, and the refinery did not have the resources to repay it, "Sega" reported.
The government also had a meeting with the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department - OFAC, last week, at which the situation with "Litasko" was also discussed. In May, the US extended the derogation for "Lukoil" companies in Bulgaria by 6 months - until October 29.