Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Ruling majority divided over termination of derogation for use of Russian oil by Lukoil

Delyan Dobrev and Desislava Atanasova of GERB/SDS
Photo: BTA

“Not in the space of three days, yesterday Lukoil was ready to switch entirely over to non-Russian oil, with a reduced operating capacity for Neftochim, but enough to meet the country’s needs of fuel,” Delyan Dobrev, chair of the National Assembly’s energy committee and MP from GERB/SDS said.

Together with the chair of the GERB/SDS parliamentary group Desislava Atanasova, Dobrev walked out of the meeting of the Security Council at the Council of Ministers which discussed the proposal for the cancellation of the use of Russian oil by Lukoil refinery near Burgas.

“At the meeting it was made clear that despite the sanctions regime and the derogation allowing the sale of fuels of Russian origin only inside the country and in Ukraine, more than 50% of the fuels produced by Lukoil were exported all over the world. What we are seeing is Lukoil acting depending on how certain parties vote,” Delyan Dobrev said further.

“The Putin coalition is a fact. An absolutely useless meeting, a waste of time for us,” said the chairman of the parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) Delyan Peevski, who also walked out of the council meeting before it had ended. Terminating the use of Russian oil before 1 March would mean enormous risks, the co-chair of We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria (PP/DB) Kiril Petkov said after the council meeting. “We are talking about tax revenues into the treasury amounting to close to EUR 200 million until the end of the year, and EUR 25-50 million until March,” Kiril Petkov said.

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov stated that the Council had reached the decision that the demand by GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms for ending the use of Russian oil quickly shall not be implemented because it would mean a risk to prices and fuel supplies in the country. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Valérie Hayer

Renew Europe calls on the European Commission to urgently send a mission to Bulgaria

The President of the “Renew Europe” group in the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer, called on the European Commission to urgently send a mission to Bulgaria to assess the rule of law situation and to freeze all payments under the Recovery and..

published on 10/22/25 6:12 PM

Young doctors to receive long-awaited pay rise

“At coalition level, we have decided to meet the demands of young doctors regarding salary levels,” said Kostadin Angelov, chair of the parliamentary health committee, at a meeting of the panel, as reported by BNR's Mila Mladenova. Young doctors..

published on 10/22/25 4:55 PM

PM Rosen Zhelyazkov has invited King Charles III to visit Bulgaria again

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has invited King Charles III to visit Bulgaria again , the Council of Ministers announced. The two spoke at the royal reception organized on the occasion of the Berlin Process summit in London , which..

published on 10/22/25 3:34 PM