PM: Government increased taxes for Lukoil to reduce Burgas refinery's excess profits

Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov commented on a report published on November 9 that the derogation does not lower fuel prices in the country, but generates excess profits for Lukoil Neftochim and that the Burgas refinery uses loopholes in the EU regime for Russian sanctions and circumvents them by processing the Russian oil it receives and exporting it abroad.

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"Much of the information in this report was known before. There is no particular surprise except the scale on which this scheme to circumvent sanctions is unfolding. What must and can be done is to act according to the laws, and where the laws are ineffective, to improve them accordingly. Much has been said about the derogation in Bulgaria and why it is being extended. Let me remind you that the derogation is actually being shortened with the idea that we should gradually switch to non-Russian oil in order to make sure that we do not end up with a port short of oil and hence unable to operate the refinery.

It is within the powers of the Bulgarian Government, and has already been done, to raise significantly the taxes that Lukoil has to pay in order to reduce the excess profits that are quoted in this piece. And on the one hand to reduce the funds that go to the Russian Federation for fighting the war and on the other hand to increase the funds that go to the Bulgarian budget," Denkov said at a briefing after the "Anti-Corruption, Democratic Sustainability and Economic Security" forum in Sofia, organized by the Centre for the Study of Democracy.

The Prime Minister commented on his meeting with the head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, Laura Kövesi, in Sofia.

"I would like to thank Ms Kövesi for her visit. The occasion on which we met was a conference related to the fight against corruption. This is no longer just a fight to save public funds, to reduce the struggle for influence in the states, but it has already started to become a fight to preserve democracy," Denkov said.

We talked about the work of the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Bulgaria and identified some measures the government could help with. We are here together with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel to show how important the fight against corruption and the work with the European Public Prosecutor's Office is for the Bulgarian government," the PM added.

Laura Kövesi described her talks with the Prime Minister and with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister as "very constructive".

"It was very important to get support that the fight against corruption is a top priority for this government. This means constant dialogue with the European Public Prosecutor's Office and united action," said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel.

Derogation for the import of Russian oil for processing at Lukoil Neftohim Bourgas remains in place