Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic commented last night on the information that the ruling party in Bulgaria is preparing a law that will allow the appointment of a manager of the huge refinery in Burgas, owned by "Lukoil", granting him broad powers to take operational control over the facility, approve its sale and nationalize it if necessary.
This is being done in order to continue energy supplies after the imposition of new US sanctions on November 21, reports Tanjung.
''For '''Lukoil'', the Bulgarians did not wait for the stop and go. The ruling GERB party in Bulgaria plans to propose a law that would allow a special administrator to carry out the sale of the ''Lukoil'' refinery in Burgas, the largest oil processing facility in the country. They have a large refinery in Burgas, on the Black Sea coast. They finished immediately, they didn't wait for the authorities to come and so on. We didn't do any of that. We didn't appoint an administrator," Vucic said on RTS.
He added that there is now an additional case regarding the confiscation of frozen Russian assets in Europe.
Vucic also commented tonight on the call by the civil movement "Solidarity" for Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia and thus resolve the issue of sanctions against NIS.
"I don't know if you understand how difficult the position of our country is. Do you know how Serbia's European path would accelerate if we recognized Kosovo and imposed sanctions on Russia? I just want to tell you how difficult this fair and, I would say, normal position of Serbia is. And nobody likes it. Nobody likes it because everyone would like to be a puppet of this particular country, and we want to be our own“.
He recalled that the Council's decision not to impose sanctions on Russia has been in force for more than three years, but that he could not guarantee that this decision would not change soon, given that we are ''guided by state interests''.
Romania and Bulgaria are racing against time to prevent the closure of important oil refineries before US sanctions against their Russian owners come into force later this month. This is stated in an analysis by Politico.
Washington’s decision to blacklist Lukoil and Rosneft has put European Union countries where the two largest Russian oil companies operate in a difficult position, and the reason is that the countries are trying to prevent an interruption in fuel supplies before the sanctions come into effect on November 21.
On Friday, Bulgarian lawmakers approved a new bill that would allow the government to appoint a manager of the huge Burgas refinery owned by "Lukoil", giving him broad powers to take operational control of the facility, approve its sale and nationalize it if necessary. In the meantime, the country is exploring the possibility of requesting an exemption from the sanctions.
Romania, the country where "Lukoil"’s "Petrotel" refinery is located, has not yet made a formal decision. But Bucharest is also considering asking for an “extension of sanctions” while it prepares its response, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely. Nationalization is seen as a “last resort,” he added.
For his part, Romanian Energy Minister Bogdan-Gruia Ivan told POLITICO that Bucharest is “operationally prepared” for any scenario. The government’s plan would aim to preserve “Romania’s economic activity while at the same time stopping financing from the Russian Federation,” he added.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which must approve any sale, and the European Commission declined to comment.
Efforts to secure new owners for the refineries have been cast into further doubt after Swiss trading company "Gunvor" on Thursday withdrew its offer to buy Lukoil's international assets after the US Treasury Department sharply criticized the sale offer.
The new measures also affect other EU countries. Germany won a six-month exemption for its Rosneft-owned Schwedt refinery, which has been under state control since 2022. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban traveled to Washington on Friday in the hope of securing an exemption for Russian oil imports by pipeline to his country and neighboring Slovakia.
The sanctions come amid frustration on the part of US President Donald Trump over the stalled efforts to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine. In recent months, the EU has also stepped up its campaign to end the bloc’s remaining dependence on Moscow for energy.
Transition problems
Technically, securing exemptions or appointing a state manager for refineries should not be a problem.
However, the worst-case scenario – in which refineries cease operations would have very different effects on the two countries.
For Bulgaria, where the Russian refinery provides up to 80% of the country's fuel needs, it would leave Sofia without supplies "until the end of the year," explained Martin Vladimirov, a senior analyst at the Center for the Study of Democracy.
Meanwhile, the Romanian refinery supplies about 20% of the country's fuel, said Ana Otilia Nucu, an energy analyst at the Expert Forum think tank. The shutdown would therefore lead to "several months" of slight price increases, she said, as the country tries to find replacement sources of imports.
However, the shutdown of the plant could affect exports to neighboring Moldova, the expert added. And "if Moldova is seriously affected, it will be another... huge opportunity for Russia to promote itself," said Nutsu.
On Friday, the Moldovan government presented its own proposal to buy Lukoil's assets in the country, including a jet fuel storage facility, and said it had asked Washington to postpone sanctions.
Mikhail Krutikhin, co-founder of consulting firm "RusEnergy" and a Russian energy expert, agreed that the facilities should be able to "continue to operate" safely, as long as their future owner retains existing staff and hires additional experts.