Bulgaria's Lukoil Neftochim Refinery Gets License Back

Customs Agency Director Vanyo Tanov has said that the Lukoil Neftochim refinery will get its license back and the Rosenetz oil terminal will work on a suspended license for 2 years. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov has said that it will be clear by January 15 if the Burgas-based Lukoil Neftochim has fulfilled the legal requirements for the installation of measuring devices at the refinery and at its oil terminal Rosenetz.

In a Friday interview for Nova TV, he said that customs officials were inspecting the new equipment at the oil processing plant after the company said on January 03 that the installation process had been wrapped up.

"After the license was suspended, they pulled off a truly heroic feat in two months and a half," Tanov stated.

He added that if everything was found to be alright, the refinery would have its old license reinstated, provided that its management withdrew the court action against the Customs Agency and the case was terminated.

The company would otherwise have to have a new license issued, which would take time, Tanov explained.

Lukoil's tax warehouse operator permits for the Neftochim refinery and the Rosenez oil terminal were revoked by the Customs Agency on Jul 22 after it failed to observe the June 26, 2011 statutory deadline for the installation of electronic devices reporting incoming and outgoing volumes to the National Revenue Agency (NRA).

After lodging an appeal against the preliminary execution of the individual administrative acts issued by the Customs Agency head, the Neftochim refinery was allowed to stay in operation until the case was resolved with a verdict on the grounds that a disrupted production process would result in "substantial or hard to repair damages" for the company.

The temporary production halt at Lukoil Neftochim caused Bulgaria to tap state reserves for jet fuel for the airports in Varna, Burgas and Sofia.

Despite the allegedly completed installation process at the Neftochim refinery, no measuring devices have so far been mounted at the entrance of the Rosenetz oil terminal, which is why it will get its license back only if it undertakes to fulfill the requirements in two years' time.

The option for partial compliance with the requirements was made possible by amendments to the ordinance on tax warehouses ordinance which are pending promulgation in the State Gazette.

Tanov claimed on Friday that this would not be a problem because the ordinance had been modified so as to provide guarantees that the level gauges at all reservoirs and the existing software ensured real-time submission of  fuel volumes' data to the customs administration.

He clarified that the Rosenetz oil terminal would be operating on a suspended license in the next two years, the main condition being that it cannot receive and release fuel supplies on the market simultaneously.

The Customs Agency head revealed that a program was being developed that would allow keeping track of fuel all along the chain from the port where it had been offloaded to the filling station.

He vowed that the system would help to prevent fraud schemes in the sector and would guarantee the quality of fuels sold to the consumers.

Tanov further boasted that the end-July suspension of Lukoil's permits had brought him 54 short text messages with congratulations for the strict and unbiased application of the rules.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!