Deputies from "Progressive Bulgaria" (PB) have introduced a bill to amend the Law on the Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Oil and Oil Products, in connection with the decision of the Constitutional Court (CS) from this week, which declared unconstitutional provisions of the law related to the special manager in critical infrastructure facilities. The bill was submitted yesterday to the parliamentary registry by Daniel Parushev, Slavi Vassilev, Ivan Angelov, Nikolay Kosev, Stefan Belchev and Ivan Mavrodiev from the Bulgarian National Party, according to information on the website of the National Assembly, quoted by BTA.
The change aims to provide the state with the opportunity to take temporary measures to protect the public interest and energy security also in relation to commercial companies, when it is through them that the realization and supply to the market is carried out.
According to the current provision of Art. 25a, critical infrastructure facilities, representing strategic facilities of national security importance in the energy sector, intended for production, processing, treatment, storage and transportation of oil, including through pipelines, and energy products, are subject to supervision by the Minister of Economy, Investments and Industry. This version does not include strategic facilities of national security importance, from which trade is also carried out. This gap would make it impossible for the state to supervise such entities, respectively the persons who carry out such activities, such as the trade in aviation and shipping fuels, as it does not allow for effective safeguarding of the public interest in cases where the activity of selling oil and oil products is carried out through a separate commercial company that does not perform processing or storage, but only trade, as is the case with the companies “Lukoil - Bulgaria Bunker“ EOOD and “Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria“ EOOD, the submitters point out. Therefore, the amendments propose the inclusion of the activity “trade“ in the scope of application of Art. 25a of the law.
The reasons for the draft law state that after the entry into force of the decision of the Constitutional Court of July 21, 2026 with respect to the companies “Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria“ EOOD and “Lukoil - Bulgaria Bunker“ EOOD, there will be no legal possibility to appoint a special commercial manager, as the two companies only trade in energy products, and the owner PAO “Lukoil“, through its subsidiary “Lukoil International“, will have the right to take over their management.
“Progressive Bulgaria“ notes that currently “Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria“ and “Lukoil - Bulgaria Bunker“ fall under the derogations granted by OFSI (United Kingdom) and OFAC (United States) for the Bulgarian companies of the “Lukoil“ group. In the event that the two companies are transferred under the management of the sole owner of the capital and in the event that they are not included in the licenses for the “Lukoil“ group of companies in Bulgaria or are “excluded“ from them before the expiration of the term, it would practically mean that their activities would be blocked, as it would make payment operations and the operations of the two companies in general more difficult.
The reasons explicitly state that “Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria“ has an 85.71% market share as a ground handling operator at “Vasil Levski“ airport, and at Burgas airport this share is 90%. The situation is similar with regard to “Lukoil - Bulgaria Bunker“, which is mainly involved in bunkering (loading marine fuel into vessels) in Bulgaria, with national coverage both in the Black Sea - the ports of Burgas and Varna, and along the Danube River - Ruse, Vidin, Lom and the 1st mile of the Danube River.
According to the submitters, the proposed amendment to the law guarantees completeness and consistency of the legal framework, by placing all main activities along the supply and sale chain of oil and petroleum products under the same legal regime, when this is necessary to protect national security, energy security and the continuity of supply.