Bulgaria has no say in the sale of "Lukoil", just like Romania. This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by Yavor Kuyumdzhiev, former Minister of Economy and Energy.
"A law was adopted in Bulgaria to control the potential buyer of the Burgas refinery and its subsidiaries, and suddenly it turned out that this has absolutely no meaning when a company is sold higher up in the ownership chain," he commented on the program "Predi visi".
According to him, "Lukoil International", which is registered in Vienna, owns the other two companies in Bulgaria. "Gunvor" is buying "Lukoil International", i.e. any local regulations have no meaning," explained Kuyumdzhiev.
According to him, the only ones who can have a say in this deal are the European Antimonopoly Commission, which must give its consent. However, he does not see a problem there.
The other problem described in the preliminary agreement is that a license must be obtained from the US Treasury Department, Kuyumdzhiev pointed out.
"The Americans and Europeans, if they agree, everyone else has no say," he emphasized.
According to him, "Gunvor" is a very large company that seems to be able to handle these activities. There should be nothing dramatic for us, he believes.
However, Kuyumdzhiev noted that the company is getting involved with people close to Russian President Putin. According to him, this could create a problem for the deal.
"The sanctions, which are supposedly intended to harm Russia and make it stop the war, are actually creating bigger problems for us than for the Russians," the former energy minister expressed his opinion.
According to him, if the refinery closes, it is impossible to meet Bulgarian needs with the two remaining active refineries in the region - in Romania and Greece. There is not enough fuel nearby, he warned and predicted a possible fuel crisis.
"According to the oil and gas association, in order to meet the needs of the Bulgarian market for fuel, about 360 tanker trucks per day are needed. There are not that many in the entire region," he said.
The former minister predicted that there probably will not be a fuel shortage, but that the price will certainly increase. This is only if the deal is not approved, he specified.
Yavor Kuyumdzhiev also commented on the budget for next year. According to him, there is a danger of entering a Greek-Romanian scenario.
"More is being spent than the state can afford," he emphasized and added that social spending and money for salaries are not the biggest problem for the budget.
He does not believe that the budget debate can lead to a new crisis in government.