"The justifications of the ruling party that they are waiting for the promulgation of the amendments they adopted to the Law on the Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Oil and Petroleum Products in order to protect the public interest by appointing a special commercial manager (SCM) are untenable".
This was commented on this morning by President Rumen Radev on his "Facebook" profile.
"If the real goal is to prevent an interruption in the refinery's work, a fuel crisis and an increase in prices, they should have appointed a SCM by now and taken over the operational management of the specified activities - immediately after the sanctions were announced on October 23 of this year", the head of state pointed out.
"They have full legal grounds to do so. The institute of the OTU was regulated and adopted in 2023 by a law, which also provides for a number of guarantees against possible abuses and arbitrariness, adopted in other European countries with a similar case in order to minimize the risk of future financial claims against the state, "he adds.
"In recent weeks, fears and a sense of urgency have been persistently instilled, which have been quickly pushed through by legal changes that repeal existing protective measures. And isn't this the real goal of the legal changes and who has an interest in this?", asks Rumen Radev.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that names for a special manager of “Lukoil“ have already been discussed.
“As provided for in the law - it will be an individual or individuals who will be selected after an inspection. There are always specific names. We will announce them after the law comes into force,“ he pointed out.
The Prime Minister then commented that the measures to protect the "Lukoil" sites are being taken preventively due to incidents at refineries in Europe owned by the Russian company.
The legal changes that introduce the figure of a special manager are expected to be published in the "State Gazette".