Although the EU sanctions Russian oil, Bulgaria mild permits excessive to be processed at the Lukoil Burgas refinery. An investigation by Ukrainian journalist Mykhailo Tkach, working for the Ukrainska Pravda, shows that Lukoil’s Bulgarian Burgas refinery is mild processing Russian excessive. The volumes are being transported by Russia’s shadow rapid and transshipped offshore arrangement the poke alongside with the movement of Bulgaria. Tkach has made videos of the ship-to-ship (STS) transfers upright reverse the port of Rosenets, the necessary port for excessive oil deliveries to the Burgas refinery. The Ukrainian reporter shows that the Liberian-registered tanker Lipari, arriving on November 24 from Novorossiysk, Russia, docked arrangement the Rosenets port. By device of an STS, the Maltese-registered tanker Stames took birth of excessive oil at sea.
This STS seems to beget delivered Russian naphtha, for which the EU in 2022 granted Bulgaria an exemption to import till the tip of 2024. Reviews, equivalent to those from World See, order Bulgaria imported a lot extra Russian naphtha than necessary in 2023. World See additionally acknowledged that the Burgas refinery processed 5 million hundreds Russian naphtha within the necessary ten months of 2023, contributing around €1 billion to Russian govt coffers. In response, the Bulgarian govt announced in 2023 that it plans to decrease Russian naphtha imports by 80%, stopping all imports by 2024. On the other hand, Tkach’s video signifies that the Burgas refinery is mild processing Russian oil.
To limit the flexibility of the Russian murky rapid to bring excessive and products to European markets, the EU imposed extra sanctions on December 1, 2024, concentrating on around 50 extra Russian oil tankers, bringing the final sanctioned murky rapid to roughly 80 vessels. Tkach’s findings imply that the Bulgarian govt stays complicit in Russian STS operations linked to Burgas refinery activities. Analysts beget proposed that the Russian naphtha shall be rebranded as KEBKO (Kazakh Export Mix Crude Oil) to bypass restrictions. Ukrainian and Bulgarian media verbalize that Bulgarian govt officials are doubtless conscious about the multimillion-buck offers alive to. Reviews additionally imply that the Russian-Bulgarian oil connection is allotment of Moscow’s disinformation and influence arrangement.
As evidence of Moscow’s sway, Bulgaria’s govt, led by High Minister Grachev, has declined to trace a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine, organising a rift with 25 EU member states that beget signed identical agreements. Grachev’s govt seems to be following Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in aligning with Russian interests.
Interestingly, Lukoil’s Bulgarian assets, including the Burgas refinery—the largest within the Balkans—are up on the market. Hungarian oil and gasoline company MOL is reportedly within the arrangement of buying the assets. Hungarian President Orbán has been pushing for the deal, as evidenced by his visits to Bulgarian officials, including President Radev. Analysts warn that Russian financing shall be alive to, as MOL’s monetary ability is exiguous. Orbán’s involvement must lift issues for European authorities, who might per chance rob into story blocking off the deal if Russian connections are confirmed. Hungarian possession of Lukoil’s assets might per chance perhaps extra entrench Moscow’s influence within the Balkans.
One other topic complicates the sale of Lukoil’s assets. The corporate holds a dominant location in Bulgaria’s fuel market nonetheless has not paid income taxes. Bulgarian sources estimate that Lukoil owes around BGN 500 million ($265 million) in unpaid taxes.
Bulgaria just just isn’t the suitable European country importing sizable volumes of Russian oil and products. Reviews order that Romania has additionally violated EU sanctions. In November, the Panama-registered tanker Sredina arrived in Romanian waters arrangement the port of Constanta and conducted an STS switch with one more Panama-registered tanker, Melahat. Per Marine Monitoring, Melahat later docked with the Russian-registered vessel VF Tanker 3, which had advance straight from Novorossiysk, Russia. Completely different vessels, equivalent to the Altai, beget additionally transported Russian excessive to Romanian ports bask in Midia.
Turkey is one more route for Russian excessive and products into Europe. The EU’s Anti-Fraud Living of labor is investigating the Turkish route, where vessels from Russia poke thru ports with out refining capabilities. Marine Internet page traffic has documented other vessels coming from Novorossiysk, extra organising Turkey’s role within the ongoing exchange of Russian oil to European markets.
By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com
