Bulgaria Unblocks 2 T of Jet Fuel Reserve over Lukoil Crisis

The airports of the Bulgarian Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas have aircraft fuel to last them only for a few days in the peak of the summer season. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian cabinet released overnight Saturday 1 800 tons of jet fuel from the State reserve, Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov announced.

The decision, signed by the Council of Ministers during the night, will secure jet fuel for the upcoming week.

The fuel is destined to the airports of the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas where the summer tourist season is in its peak. Burgas currently has fuel to last only until Monday, Varna – until mid-week. Additional volumes for Burgas will be also redirected from the airport in the second largest city of Plovdiv.

The order of the cabinet is for the release of jet fuel, kept in the Lukoil Bulgaria warehouses, for a week-long consumption.

"Everything has been arranged with the Finance Ministry and the Customs Agency. If needed, the fuel could be released over the weekend, but such need will not arise. The only urgent issue relates to time, not structure," Traikov said Saturday.

The Minister further pointed out it will make sense for the State representative of the Lukoil Monitoring Board to call an emergency meeting to discuss the mounting of the electronic measuring devices by the company.

On Friday Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, announced that crisis headquarters will monitor the situation on Bulgaria's fuel market after the local refinery of Russian oil giant Lukoil was forced to halt operations with Traikov heading the headquarters.

It will also include Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski, the Head of the Customs Agency, Vanyo Tanov, a deputy interior minister, a deputy finance minister and the Head of the State Reserve.

The officials will supervise the fluctuations on the fuel market following the revocation of the refinery license to sell fuels.

Bulgaria's Neftochim, the only oil refinery in the country, controlled by Russia's giant Lukoil, started on Wednesday to reduce crude processing to effectively stop production after the customs office revoked its licenses.

Tanov has explained that the refinery cannot operate without the required electronic measuring devices Lukoil failed to install in its storage facilities, and can deal only with the fuels already outside the plant.

Valentin Zlatev, CEO of Lukoil Bulgaria, has often been described as "the country's back seat ruler" and "the oil oligarch, who pulls the strings of the government".

He is suspected of being the man behind Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Zlatev has strongly denied the allegations.

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