Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
After the ruling party had been busy appointing the director of the National Revenue Agency and bodybuilding champion Rumen Spetsov as a special manager of “Lukoil”, they could have just as successfully appointed the deputy ombudsman Maria Filipova, who headed both the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) and the State Gambling Commission (SGC). Why not one of the GERB deputies from Burgas, where the largest asset of the Russian “Lukoil” is located - the “Neftokhim” refinery. Or better yet, the head of the National Security Agency, Denyo Denev, would have become a special manager - a guarantee that national security is protected by Rosenets. After all, the National Security Agency is assigned the role of screening potential buyers of the assets of “Lukoil” in Bulgaria.
Loyal and ready to serve as ordered
However, none of them meets the legal requirement of at least 5 years of experience in managing economic activities related to oil and oil products. A distinctive quality of many who have risen up the career ladder of Bulgarian institutions is their usefulness to those who appointed them. Loyal and ready to serve wherever and for whatever they are ordered, as long as the assignment requires more political discipline than real competence.
The special manager, however, is a post of another category - a government appointee, managing the largest company in Bulgaria, in order to prevent financial flows from its activities from reaching Russia. He is required by the sanctions imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition, he must guarantee the security of fuel supplies for the Bulgarian and other European markets, which are supplied by the Burgas refinery.
With the general asset management license that it issued until April 29, 2026, ΟFAC allowed the four companies of “Lukoil” in Bulgaria to operate until then. These are the largest refinery in the Balkans, as well as the chain of gas stations, the aviation fuel businesses and the distribution of marine fuels.
Who is Spetsov
In 2021, Spetsov was appointed to the top management of the NRA, and the acting Minister of Finance who appointed him, Assen Vassilev, motivated his choice as follows on the Bulgarian National Radio: “I have known Mr. Spetsov for a long time, ever since he worked at the NRA. He was an extremely trusted partner of foreign services in coordination with European and foreign partners. If we want to clean up the NRA and start collecting leaks in the system, the person who worked on exactly that is the most suitable”. Even then, the choice of Spetsov was widely criticized, and the investigative website BIRD was the first to reveal that “the new head of the National Revenue Agency sold a stake in a company with a 1 million debt to… the National Revenue Agency” to a straw man. In early 2025, the prosecutor's office suspended the criminal proceedings initiated 4 years ago, and according to the publication, Spetsov's former company has already accumulated over 1.7 million leva in debts with interest.
For a while, Rumen Spetsov was removed from his post by President Radev's official cabinet. And in 2023, he was returned to his post when Assen Vassilev was again Finance Minister. But Spetsov did not resign after the PP-DB government fell. The official cabinet with Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev retained him, as did the current one with a GERB mandate. And because he tried to instill tension around the prices of basic foods in June this year, "Democratic Bulgaria" accused him of acting as an "advertising agent for Peevski" and the "shops for the people" proposed by the leader of the DPS-New Beginning.
The roles have already been reversed. Today, those who defended the election of Spetsov four years ago criticize him, and his former opponents swear by his "experience", "courage" and "abilities". For the leader of the PP, Asen Vassilev, his appointment as a special governor is "a pretty bad joke by the government", since he does not have the required 5 years of professional experience. For GERB, whose candidate MPs filmed the abandoned country house of the bum who received the troubled company, Spetsov is now the most suitable to gain unlimited power over the companies of “Lukoil” in Bulgaria.
Too much responsibility for a person without any experience in the oil industry, which increases the risks of his appointment - especially at the beginning of the winter season. “On the other hand, as head of the National Revenue Agency, he deals extremely much with “Lukoil”, as the largest taxpayer in the country, including since 2021 he has been negotiating with the Russian company to change transfer pricing and the rules under which “Lukoil” pays taxes,” noted on bTV, expert from the Center for the Study of Democracy Martin Vladimirov.
Any disruption to the rhythm of the work of “Lukoil Neftokhim” , whether due to crude oil supplies or operational management shortcomings, will threaten the stability of the government. Any attempt to circumvent the sanctions will seriously damage Bulgaria's international reputation.
Whose control is it?
The alternative for the peculiar manager Spetsov is to be a “rubber stamp” for the decisions of the Russian management - or to carry out orders that come from circles that are not publicly visible. Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov commented on BNR that he was not given “such rights as are being promoted - he could 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 him from certain actions”.
By law, however, the government approves or disapproves only “disposal or alienation of property, or assumption of financial obligations outside the framework of ordinary management and ordinary commercial activity”. Nowhere is it stated that the decisions of the special manager related to operational work are subject to coordination with the Council of Ministers. For example, orders for crude oil, contracts with wholesalers and fuels on particularly favorable terms - analysts have already assumed that there may be a redistribution of the market depending on who controls Spetsov. But whatever the special manager does, legal indulgence is provided - there is no administrative or judicial control.
The president is contesting the appointment of Spetsov, because he did not present a 6-month management plan, as required by law. For Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov, the special manager “has the necessary vision”, and according to Economy Minister Petar Dilov “the Mr. Rumen Spetsov I nominated meets all legal requirements” and “has always demonstrated professionalism, political impartiality and managerial skills”.
Another appointment?
Spetsov, who has not made any statements so far, loses the post of executive director of the National Revenue Agency with the appointment of special manager. If in the coming months the US allows a potential candidate buyer to buy all foreign assets of “Lukoil”, Rumen Spetsov will also leave the position of special manager. But he can always get another appointment - at the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB), the State Consolidation Company, the Fund of Funds, in the extreme case, an advisor to the Prime Minister/Minister. Or he may not.