Energy Minister confirms interest from Hungarian company to buy Lukoil Neftochim

Caretaker Minister of Energy, Vladimir Malinov, on December 23 commented on the news that the Hungarian company MOL will be one of the participants in the tender for the sale of "Lukoil."

He pointed out that the Bulgarian state is closely following the process, but it cannot directly interfere in the change of ownership of the Lukoil Neftohim refinery, which is owned by a majority private shareholder.

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"As a government and as the Minister of Energy, we fully respect private ownership. From this perspective, the Bulgarian state cannot play a decisive role in the ownership change of the refinery. However, given the refinery's importance not only for national security but also for the country’s energy security, we monitor these processes very closely. On December 18, there was a meeting of the refinery's Supervisory Board, during which, through the state's representative, we requested to be promptly informed about the ownership change process. We expect timely updates at every stage of this process," stated Vladimir Malinov, caretaker Minister of Energy.