Experts: The war between Israel and Hamas will not affect fuel prices in Bulgaria

The war between Israel and Hamas will not affect fuel prices in Bulgaria, Dimitar Hadzhidimitrov, from the Association of Bulgarian Traders, Producers, Importers and Transporters of Fuels said on October 13.

"Initially, there was a price increase, which is the result of the stress of expectations of what will happen after there is a regional conflict. However, at the moment the markets are calm. We are unlikely to see prices any different from what we are seeing at the pumps at the moment. Consumers should be reassured that for now this regional conflict will not affect fuel prices in Bulgaria," said Dimitar Hadzhidimitrov.

“The good news is that in the past 10 - 15 days there has been a price decrease of 6 - 7 dollars per barrel, so we will see lower prices in our country. We are already seeing it, prices are 4 - 5 cents lower per litre of fuel," Hadzhidimitrov added.

"There is a security risk in the Eastern Mediterranean. There is a security risk in the Aegean. There is a likelihood of an increase in the cost of crossing the Bosphorus, which will affect, for example, Lukoil Neftohim and other refiners in the Black Sea region," explained Assoc. Krasen Stanchev, founder of the Institute for Market Economics.

Dimitar Hadzhidimitrov said that for two weeks Russia has stopped selling finished fuels to the entire European Union.

"So at the moment only oil is sold to Bulgaria, we can't buy finished fuels from the Russian Federation for two weeks," added the expert from the Association of Bulgarian Fuel Traders, Producers, Importers and Transporters.