"If the sale of "Lukoil" assets begins only on the territory of Bulgaria, we have created a screening mechanism, which is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, in which I also have a representative through a deputy minister whom I have appointed, so that this owner can be examined in detail whether it is stable and predictable enough to be able to guarantee national security.
This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by the Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov:
"Through the National Agency for National Security and through this screening committee, the state can guarantee 100% screening and be the last instance to decide whether it agrees or not with such a deal, the goal being to guarantee the security of supplies in the country.
If the parent company "Lukoil" sells its assets in Europe during the period of the derogation we received, then the sanctions of all companies will be lifted and in this hypothesis the state will not have to do anything, but if such transactions do not happen along the chain, it is a natural principle to request an extension of the derogation with the condition that the special manager will guarantee that no financial funds are directed to Russia, he explained.
The special manager must receive permission from the government for each specific activity, this is by law, Minister Stankov emphasized and explained:
"He has not been given such rights as are being promoted - he will almost wake up with some grandiose idea and do something, on the contrary. The Council of Ministers is the control body that can authorize or prohibit certain actions.
The Minister of Energy said that he learned about Rumen Spetsov's nomination for the special manager minutes before the Prime Minister's Security Council, after which his election was officially announced.
Stankov explained that it was not possible under the law in force since 2023 to guarantee the main activity of the special manager - to ensure that there is no leakage of financial funds from the subsidiaries to the parent company:
"That is why we took as a basis all the useful practices and documentation that were prepared during the time of Nikolay Denkov as Prime Minister".
We have 6 months of gasoline, 4 months of diesel and 2 months of jet fuel, he confirmed.
According to Zhecho Stankov, the option of the "Lukoil" refinery in Burgas to be bought by the state is "a possibility, but it cannot be undertaken by anyone alone":
"We have not discussed with Dragomir Stoynev, chairman of the PG of "BSP-United Left" his statement about the possibility of BEH buying "Lukoil". I am not part of the SSU, where the coalition comments on various ideas, if they want, I can get involved".