Rumen Spetsov, who was then Lukoil's special administrator, squeezed profit margins earlier this year by keeping prices too low, a report by the Commission for Protection of Competition found. Deputy prime minister and economy minister Alexander Pulev told BNT.
"It's not my opinion — it's the Commission for Protection of Competition's opinion — that he squeezed margins that way," Pulev said on "Still on the Day's Agenda". The minister said this pricing policy drove the company into a cash crisis.
The refinery sold fuel close to cost price, he explained, and petrol station operators bore the damage, briefly running at a loss. That kind of setup can last two or three months at most before the refinery goes bust, the minister said. He called the approach unsustainable and populist, and said it was left as a "political trap" for the next administrator.
Pulev said the new special administrator, Evgeni Simeonov, is running a policy that's socially minded but "smart and sustainable". "The refinery works on a very low profit margin now, unlike under the previous special administrator," he said. That way it covers its running costs, avoids bankruptcy, and keeps fuel prices among the lowest in the EU.
The commission has launched an urgent check into how prices are set, and the special administrator will hand over full accounting and financial records for it. The ministry welcomes the check.
Spetsov set his own salary, at a monthly rate equal to five years' average Bulgarian wages. Days ago he also asked for an extra one-off payment, and he is currently suing Lukoil for a sum equal to 32 years' average wages. An independent international audit will look into both matters. Parliament changed the law to give Spetsov special powers, backed by the Borisov government and political parties.
The government has also lifted the ban on exporting oil products. Because the refinery has been running at higher capacity, diesel stocks have built up, tying up more than $200 million in working capital, while domestic demand stays limited. Exporting to other countries frees up that cash, and the move doesn't affect pump prices, Pulev said — adding that it applies to the whole industry, not as a favour to one producer.
On the 33% windfall tax, the minister said the company has no grounds to owe it, given its thin profit margin and the cash crisis it inherited.
Pulev added that the price rise stems from global events, and the government is offering help to the most vulnerable groups and to key industries. He expects a balanced, constructive stance from the International Monetary Fund mission visiting Bulgaria amid inflation, and said the country is making a good impression with EU institutions.