Asen Vasilev noted that the country has become one of the largest exporters of diesel to Ukraine BERLIN/SOFIA, January 18.
/tass/. Bulgaria secretly supplied the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with diesel fuel after the start of a special Russian military operation. The oil product was produced at the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas oil refinery. This was reported on Wednesday by the German newspaper Die Welt with reference to ex-Bulgarian Finance Minister Asen Vasilev.
"Bulgaria [after the start of its own] became one of the largest exporters of diesel to Ukraine and periodically covered up to 40% of the needs of this country in this type of fuel," the publication quotes the politician as saying. He also clarified that he appealed to the management of the Burgas refinery with a request to send surplus diesel fuel not intended for the Bulgarian domestic market (about 50% of output) to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after a certain "representative of Ukraine" complained at the April meeting of the World Bank in Washington that the former Soviet republic was "running out of fuel".
Deliveries "were made secretly and through foreign intermediary firms," the newspaper notes. Representatives of Kiev, in response to her request, confirmed that "at a critical moment they received diesel from Bulgaria."
According to the publication, the "hide-and-seek game" ended only at the beginning of this year, when the refinery "completely came under the control of Bulgaria" and "ceased to be associated with Moscow," while Sofia in November "sent a request to the European Commission for a permit to use oil from the Russian Federation imported by sea for production and subsequent export of diesel", including to Ukraine.
In the program "A Day with Veselin Dremdjieff" posted on YouTube, the former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, co-chairman of the coalition "We Continue changes" Kirill Petkov also confirmed that the country provided Ukraine with ammunition and fuel. "Most of the diesel in Ukraine was from Bulgaria. Also, despite the fact that there were no direct deliveries, the shells for Ukraine coming through Poland, Romania, the USA and the UK were Bulgarian-made. Yes, it cannot be said that we supplied them, but these supplies were key to the war. About 40% of the diesel in Ukraine was also of Bulgarian production. This is how we helped Ukraine, because it is impossible to wage war without fuel," Petkov said. "President [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky thanked our government very much, called by phone, saying that Bulgaria was a key force in supporting Ukraine at a very important moment of the war, at its beginning," he added.
The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, where a TASS correspondent asked for comment, denied the supply of diesel fuel produced at the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas plant to Ukraine. "Diesel from the Lukoil plant was not sent to Ukraine, these deliveries were carried out by other Bulgarian fuel producers," the diplomatic mission said.
Lukoil in Bulgaria
On January 13, deputies of the Bulgarian People's Assembly (Parliament) adopted amendments to the law on administrative regulation of economic activities related to oil and petroleum products by a majority vote in the second, final reading. They provide for the possibility of introducing external management of the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas refinery in the event of circumstances threatening national security, public order and the delivery of critical resources.
The West, in response to Russia's decision to launch a special operation in Ukraine, began gradually imposing numerous large-scale sanctions against Moscow, and also began supplying weapons and military equipment to Kiev for amounts estimated at this stage in the tens of billions of dollars.