Bulgaria accelerates the process of refusal from Russian oil

Members of the Bulgarian parliament have approved a proposal to phase out Russian oil imports by October 2024.

Source. This was reported by Bloomberg.

By that time, the local Lukoil refinery, which uses this raw material, will have to find alternative suppliers.

Bulgaria, along with a number of other EU countries, received a delay in the embargo on Russian oil through the sea terminal until the end of 2024. However, Sofia decided to refuse to supply before this deadline.

On Thursday, the Parliament supported the idea to limit the use of Russian oil at Lukoil's refinery in Bulgaria – Naftohim Burgas – to 80% by the end of this year.

The volume of supplies will be reduced every three months. A complete cessation is expected in October next year.

Refusal from Russian purchases is mainly a matter of logistics, comments Asen Vasilev, the country's Finance Minister:

"To switch to oil not from the Black Sea region, we need to significantly increase the actual storage capacity – perhaps double it. Thus, the refinery will be able to operate for 20, 30 days without a tanker call."

In recent weeks, the volume of Russian Urals oil supplies through the Black Sea to Bulgaria has exceeded 180 thousand barrels per day. This is three times more than at the beginning of this year.

Oil from Kazakhstan, which is transported through the port of Novorossiysk, could become an alternative for Lukoil's needs, Bloomberg writes. Part of this raw material is processed by a refinery in Romania owned by Kazakhstan, which stopped Russian imports last year. The country will also look for a replacement among the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.