Bulgaria to take important port away from Russian control

The Bulgarian parliament decided on Friday to terminate the concession of the Rosenets oil port near the city of Burgas to Russian oil giant Lukoil.

Source: European Pravda citing BNR, the Bulgarian National Radio site; Reuters

Details: The proposal to terminate the concession agreement for the port of Rosenets, introduced this week, was passed at both first and second reading, with 144 members of the Bulgarian parliament in favour and 52 opposed.

According to the initiators of the amendment, this step is in line with the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia, and the Lukoil's concession at the port also falls within the scope of the sanctions.

The amendment requires the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications to take over the operational management of the facilities within two weeks of the concession being revoked.

"The termination of the concession will not allow Russia to use Bulgarian infrastructure to finance the war in Ukraine," the statement said.

Lukoil had taken over the Rosenets terminal, which is designed to receive, store and transport petrochemical raw materials, in 2011. Last year, Bulgaria's interim government decided to extend the concession for 24 years.

In addition, back then, Sofia and Lukoil agreed that the Russian company could continue its operations and exports of petroleum products to the EU until the end of 2024, provided it paid taxes in full.

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