The Bulgarian parliament votes to hand over control of the Lukoil oil terminal

BELGRADE, July 21 (Reuters) – The Bulgarian parliament voted on Friday to revoke Lukoil’s license to operate the Rosenet oil terminal near the Black Sea port of Burgas, which lawmakers said will speed up the country’s accession to the Schengen zone.

The bill, supported by 144 deputies in the 240-seat parliament, provides that Lukoil will be able to operate the oil terminal after the license expires, but will have to pay contributions to the Bulgarian government. The act also states that the concession will expire in a week.

Rozenets port, located near Burgas, is the only specialized oil terminal on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It has been under the control of Lukoil since 2011, when the Russian company received a concession from the Bulgarian government for 35 years.

The terminal serves Bulgaria’s only Neftochim refinery in the city of Burgas with a capacity of 196,000 barrels per day, also owned by Lukoil. In January, Bulgarian MPs decided that the government could take over the refinery for up to a year.

“Our strategic goal is to join the Schengen area, and this is a big step in that direction. This… also corresponds to… EU sanctions against Russia,” said Kiril Petkov, one of the leaders of the Continue Change party, which voted for the confiscation.

The Lukoil Neftokhim oil refinery said in a statement on Thursday that it would apply to the court for protection against the parliament’s decision.

“The proposal to terminate the concession … is another hasty and misguided idea of ​​political leaders,” President Rumen Radev said on Wednesday.

The original message in English is available under the code: (Alexander Vasovich in Belgrade and Stoyan Nenov in Sofia)