Bulgaria to Face New Fuel Price Protest Friday

A file photo from previous protests against fuel prices in Bulgaria by Sofia Photo Agency.

A Facebook group has urged Bulgarians to join a new fuel price protest.

Drivers are invited to refrain from buying any gasoline or diesel on Friday and to stop their vehicles between 13:00 and 13:30.

The organizers emphasize that the protest scheduled for July 22 is unrelated to unions, organizations or political parties.

On Saturday, gasoline A95 hit the record level of BGN 2.53 per liter at filling stations in Sofia.

Gasoline A98 currently sells for BGN 2.69 per liter, diesel trades at BGN 2.51 per liter and LPG costs BGN 1.25 per liter.

The retail price spike came one day after the Lukoil Neftochim refinery increased wholesale prices.

According to statistics cited by Bulgaria's Dnevnik daily, gasoline prices have added BGN 0.14 per liter since the beginning of July, while the cost of diesel has increased by BGN 0.12.

Lukoil has attributed the price update to the upward trends on global markets.

Gasoline prices have risen by 17% since January, while the cost of diesel has gone up by 13%.

Peak fuel prices in March caused Bulgarians to organize five protest marches across the country.

The campaigns were launched on Facebook and included various forms of protest like roadblocks, pedestrian rallies and vehicles lining up in queues at filling stations, with drivers repeatedly buying fuel for small change.

The turmoil caused by expensive fuel caused the Bulgarian center-right government to sign an agreement with Lukoil for a one-month moratorium on retail prices.

The fuel distributor, which controls 29% of the retail fuel market, froze gasoline prices at BGN 2.36 per liter and diesel at BGN 2.45 at filling stations of its chain.

The moratorium, originally set to expire on April 23, was subsequently extended to May 09.

The agreement for the price freeze aroused suspicions of very close ties between Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the head of Lukoil Bulgaria Valentin Zlatev, whom the opposition has described as "the country's back seat ruler" and "the oil oligarch, who pulls the strings of the government".

Bulgaria's Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) launched a cartel probe in the sector amid widespread allegations of artificially inflated prices.

The result of the analysis of the liquid fuels market has not been announced yet, but the anti-trust watchdog has said that it fails to see any clear evidence of a unfair competition.

On Friday, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov threatened to revoke the license of Lukoil Neftochim unless the refinery installs the mandatory measuring devices reporting fuel volumes released on the market.

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