Report: SOCAR interested in Lukoil's refinery in Bulgaria

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (PRIME) -- Several companies are interested in buying Lukoil's refinery in Bulgaria, including Azerbaijani state oil company, SOCAR, newspaper Euractiv reported on Wednesday citing sources.

"According to unofficial information obtained by Euractiv, several entities are interested in buying Lukoil’s Bulgarian business. While interest comes from two U.S.-based investment funds and two smaller oil companies, the most interested is the controversial state-owned Azerbaijani oil company, SOCAR," the newspaper said.

Lukoil said on Tuesday it would revise the Bulgarian strategy and analyze possible sale of the business.

The E.U. imposed a partial embargo on Russian oil in 2022 with the exemption of sea shipments to Bulgaria until the end of 2024. Lukoil’s Bulgarian oil refinery Lukoil Neftohim Burgas depends on supplies of Russian oil.

In November 2023, Bulgaria prohibited imports and refining of oil by Lukoil at the refinery from March 1, 2024. The export quotas will be abolished in January 2024. The E.U. exemption will expire on March 1. The refinery said that it might have to suspend operations because of the suspension of quotas.

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