Bulgaria’s Fuel Supplies Secured Despite Sanctions on Lukoil, Says Energy Minister

Bulgaria’s energy minister, Zhecho Stankov, has reassured the public that the country’s fuel supplies are guaranteed, despite recent US sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil. Stankov, together with European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen, inspected the construction of a section of the Vertical Gas Corridor, a project designed to enhance supply security, diversify energy sources, and improve natural gas prices for transport from southern Europe to Central and Southeastern Europe.

Stankov emphasised that Bulgarian citizens need not worry, as fuel supplies are secured through the end of this year and beyond. He confirmed that the government has a clear action plan to manage the challenging situation and ensure the necessary delivery of petroleum products to the country.

Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov confirmed that, at this stage, the Bulgarian government has no intention of acquiring Lukoil’s Russian assets in the country.

Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen arrived near Varna. He stated that the European Commission is working intensively to reduce electricity prices for consumers across Europe.

EU Energy Commissioner Visits Bulgaria

Zhecho Stankov, Energy Minister:
"For me, the top priority as energy minister is to guarantee supply security. We must ensure that Bulgarian citizens, businesses, and municipalities have sufficient fuel. I want to state responsibly that this is secured. We have activated a supply security plan: the first and second phases involve monitoring, consultations, and concrete preventive measures, while the third phase only comes into play if there is an actual disruption in supplies, requiring specific state intervention."

European Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, visiting Bulgaria to discuss the Lukoil situation, stressed Europe’s need to reduce dependence on Russian energy.

Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for Energy:
"We in Europe must become fully independent from Russian gas for several reasons. Firstly, it is clearly unsustainable to rely on a country that is our adversary. Putin has repeatedly used energy as a weapon against us and has blackmailed EU member states. Secondly, we do not want to indirectly finance Putin’s war. If Europe buys gas from Russia, it provides money that could be used to fund the war. We must stop this."