September 14 (SeeNews) - Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, part of the European arm of Russia's Lukoil and operator of Bulgaria's sole oil refinery, will fulfil its commitment to switch to processing non-Russian crude, the Bulgarian government said, quoting company officials.
Lukoil Neftochim Burgas and Bulgarian authorities will continue to discuss reasonable timeframes to carry out this transition before the expiry of the EU-granted exemption for Bulgaria from the EU-wide ban on seaborne Russian oil imports, the government said in a press release on Wednesday. The derogation, obtained last year, allows Bulgaria to carry on importing crude oil and petroleum products from Russia by sea until the end of 2024.
The parties held talks in the context of a proposal introduced in parliament for early termination of the exemption from the European embargo on Russian oil put in place by the EU in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The proposal was lodged in July by MPs from the two political formations that make up the government, GERB-UDF and WCC-DB, along with MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
Lukoil has also pledged to fulfill requirements to contribute 33% of its profit to the state budget as part of a temporary taxation measure introduced for 2022 and 2023 for oil, gas, coal and petroleum refining companies operating in Bulgaria.
Lukoil Neftochim Burgas processes Russian Urals crude oil. In August, Bulgaria terminated the concession on the Rosenets port on the Black Sea granted to Lukoil Neftochim Burgas and transfer the port's operation to the ministry of transport.
Last year, the reefinery reached an agreement with the then caretaker government to transfer all its financial operations to Bulgaria as of January 1, 2023 and thus contribute additional funds to the state budget.
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