The UK today extended the sanctions exemption allowing transactions with "Lukoil"'s Bulgarian operations to cover two more subsidiaries - "Lukoil-Bulgaria Bunker" and "Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria", the British government announced.
The license, originally issued on November 14 to maintain the operation of the Burgas refinery and its associated gas stations after their seizure by Russia's "Lukoil", now also applies to the additional companies.
The new document allows companies and banks to carry out transactions with "Lukoil Bulgaria" EOOD, "Lukoil Neftochim Burgas" AD, "Lukoil-Bulgaria Bunker" and "Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria", as well as their subsidiaries, until February 2026.
In the middle of last month, British authorities announced sanctions against the largest Russian oil producers, including "Lukoil" and "Rosneft", for their role in financing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The US imposed similar sanctions a short time later.
Today's license from the UK's Financial Sanctions Enforcement Office allows payments and economic resources to be transferred to and from Bulgarian companies under existing or new contracts. It expires on February 14 next year.
In October, Britain issued a special license allowing businesses to work with two German subsidiaries of sanctioned "Rosneft", as they are under German state control. A similar license was also issued by the US.
The US sanctions, which are due to come into force tomorrow, have raised concerns about fuel supplies before winter in Bulgaria, where "Lukoil" operates the Burgas refinery, hundreds of gas stations and fuel storage facilities.
The company has filed an application with the U.S. Treasury Department to extend the deadline that would have prohibited transactions with the Russian company's expanding operations in Europe after November 21.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian lawmakers approved amendments to the Law on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Oil and Petroleum Products, which were later published in the State Gazette. The amendments were voted on November 7 in two readings in one sitting. On November 12, President Rumen Radev vetoed the changes, and a day later they were rejected by parliament with 128 votes in favor, 59 against. and without "abstain".
Thus, at the end of last week, the government appointed the executive director of the National Revenue Agency (NRA) Rumen Spetsov as a special manager of the "Lukoil" companies after an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council convened by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
At the beginning of this week, Spetsov was entered in the Commercial Register as a special commercial manager of "Lukoil Neftochim Burgas" AD. Spetsov, together with Swiss citizen Evgeni Manyakhin, was designated as the legal representative of the company.
One of his first important decisions was to dismiss Evgeni Manyakhin as Chairman of the Management Board of "Lukoil Neftochim Burgas" and to revoke his authority to represent the company. This was done by a decision of Spetsov pursuant to Art. 27 c, para. 4 of the Law on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Oil and Oil Products, which he took on the very first day of taking office as a special commercial manager of the four companies of the "Lukoil" group in Bulgaria.
Yesterday, the Russian energy corporation announced that it reserves the right to seek judicial protection of its rights and legitimate interests in Bulgaria, after the special commercial manager was appointed to manage its assets in the country.
"Lukoil" is taking all necessary steps to complete the sale of the refinery, the network of gas stations and other assets in Bulgaria to a new owner and expects the activities of the special manager not to hinder this process," the energy giant said in a statement.