Balgarianovinite.com MPs from Progressive Bulgaria (PB) have submitted a bill amending the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products following a Constitutional Court ruling earlier in July that struck down provisions allowing the appointment of a special administrator at critical infrastructure facilities. According to information published on the National Assembly’s website, the bill was tabled on Thursday by PB lawmakers Daniel Parushev, Slavi Vasilev, Ivan Angelov, Nikolay Kosev, Stefan Belchev and Ivan Mavrodiev.
According to PB, the proposed amendments are intended to ensure that the state retains the ability to introduce temporary measures to protect the public interest and energy security in relation to commercial companies responsible for supplying the domestic market.
Under the current wording of Article 25a, critical infrastructure facilities designated as strategic national security assets in the energy sector, used for the production, processing, storage and transportation of crude oil and petroleum products, including via pipelines, are subject to oversight by the Minister of Economy, Investment and Industry. However, the provision does not cover strategic facilities whose primary activity is the commercial trading of petroleum products.
The bill’s sponsors argue that this legal gap prevents the state from exercising oversight over companies engaged solely in fuel trading, including suppliers of aviation and marine fuels, thereby limiting its ability to safeguard the public interest when petroleum distribution is carried out through separate commercial entities rather than producers or storage operators. They specifically cite Lukoil Bulgaria Bunker Ltd. and Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria Ltd. as examples. To address the issue, the proposed amendments would explicitly include trading activities within the scope of Article 25a.
According to the explanatory memorandum, once the Constitutional Court’s ruling of 21 July 2026 takes effect, there will no longer be a legal basis for appointing a special administrator to either Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria Ltd. or Lukoil Bulgaria Bunker Ltd., as both companies engage exclusively in the trading of energy products. This would allow their ultimate owner, PJSC Lukoil, through its subsidiary Lukoil International, to reassume direct control over their management.
The bill’s authors note that both companies currently benefit from sanctions-related derogations granted by the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for Lukoil’s Bulgarian subsidiaries. If management reverts to the parent company and the two firms are either excluded from, or removed before expiry from, the relevant licences covering Lukoil’s Bulgarian operations, their activities could effectively be paralysed because financial transactions and business operations would become severely restricted.
The explanatory memorandum also states that Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria Ltd. holds an 85.71% market share as a ground handling operator at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport, while its market share at Burgas Airport reaches 90%. A similar situation exists for Lukoil Bulgaria Bunker Ltd., which is the country’s leading supplier of marine bunker fuel, operating in the Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, as well as along the Danube River at Ruse, Vidin, Lom and the first kilometre of the Danube.
According to the sponsors, the proposed amendments would ensure a comprehensive and consistent legal framework by placing all key activities across the oil and petroleum products supply chain, including trading, under the same regulatory regime whenever necessary to protect national security, energy security and the uninterrupted supply of fuel. Progressive Bulgaria Proposes Legal Amendments to Preserve State Oversight of Lukoil Fuel Trading Companies 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-25 14:59:46 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law