Lukoil did not rule out the sale of Bulgaria’s largest refinery after Sofia banned the import of Russian oil and took away the company’s maritime terminal. Recently, the Bulgarian authorities also introduced a higher profit tax for refineries. According to the Financial Times, the Burgas plant could be sold to a Qatari-British consortium.
Lukoil management sent a letter to the Kremlin saying that the company had chosen the Qatari-British consortium Oryx Global and DL Hudson as the buyer of a majority stake in its refinery in Bulgaria and that it plans to close the deal by the end of this year. . year. This was reported by The Financial Times, citing sources.
Neither Qatar’s Oryx Global nor London’s DL Hudson confirmed the planned deal to the publication. According to the Financial Times, Bulgaria’s largest refinery, with a capacity of 8.8 million tons, was also interested in Azerbaijani Socar, Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz and Turkey’s Opet.
On December 5, 2022, the European Commission banned the import of Russian oil by sea, but allowed the continuation of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline and made an exception for Bulgaria, until the end of 2024. However, since March of this This year the Bulgarian authorities have completely banned the import of raw materials from Russia. Previously, management of the maritime terminal through which supplies were sent was taken away from the Bulgarian company Lukoil.
As a result, in December 2023, when the total ban became known, Lukoil announced that it would reconsider the strategy for the Bulgarian assets, including their sale. There it was reported that the company has been actively investing in the largest oil refinery in the country for more than 20 years and the amount of investments exceeded $3.4 billion. In addition, Lukoil also has a network of 220 gas stations and 9 oil depots in Bulgaria. as well as fuel supply for maritime transport and aviation.
In parallel, the Bulgarian authorities began to introduce additional financial sanctions. Thus, at the end of 2022, the Law on Reimbursement of Transport Costs to Consumers appeared in Bulgaria. It provides for a fee for refining Russian oil equivalent to 70% of the difference between the prices of standard Brent from the North Sea and the Russian Urals. From January to November 2023, its amount was estimated at 660 million levs (336 million euros), but the Bulgarian authorities did not start demanding money until December 2023.
That same year, an increase in profit tax was established for Lukoil Neftochim Burgas – 60%. After the sale of the plant, it will return to the 15% level.
