Radev says Lukoil has crude until mid-December: 'There is diesel and there will be'
Bulgaria's prime minister dismissed fears of a fuel shortage in parliament, citing 560,000 tonnes of crude in storage and tankers and accusing Borissov of spreading panic.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev on Wednesday dismissed concerns about a diesel shortage, telling a parliamentary hearing that Lukoil's refinery in Burgas has crude oil supplies until mid-December. He said 140,000 tonnes of crude are in storage and another 420,000 tonnes are to be unloaded from three tankers in Bulgarian territorial waters, with prices and insurance already agreed.
Bulgaria consumes about 190,000 tonnes of diesel a month while Lukoil produces about 250,000 tonnes, Radev said, citing the special manager of Lukoil's Bulgarian companies. That leaves a surplus, so exports pose no problem, he said. "There is diesel and there will be diesel," the prime minister said, adding there was "no room for panic, no room for any hysteria."
Radev was answering a question from GERB lawmaker Hristo Gadzhev. He accused GERB leader Boyko Borissov of stoking panic by touring the country and warning of shortages caused by permitted diesel exports. The hearing focused mainly on attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea on Oct. 6 and Oct. 13.