The leader of Vazrazhdane, Kostadin Kostadinov, announced that the delegation would hold talks with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Representatives of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian force are on their way to Moscow – again.
The leader of Vazrazhdane, Kostadin Kostadinov, announced that a party delegation will travel to Russia for talks with former Russian President now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, claiming they will represent “the view of the majority of the Bulgarian people” on the fate of the country’s Lukoil refinery.
“The state should have sought contact with the Russian side, but it didn’t,” Kostadinov told reporters in parliament, adding “That’s why we did.” He said the delegation would meet Medvedev and attend a “BRICS-EU cooperation forum”, as he explained, “in the context of the current crisis on the European continent.”
Kostadinov, whose party has long opposed Bulgaria’s pro-European orientation while openly supporting Russia, said participants would include figures from several EU countries, including Germany, Luxembourg, and Slovakia, alongside “descendants of Bismarck and de Gaulle” representing conservative circles. He argued the forum aimed to prevent “a third European war in a century,” warning that Sofia’s current government “wants to make Bulgaria the next Ukraine – a destroyed, dead country.”
The visitis not the party’s first overture to Moscow. Vazrazhdane lawmakers have previously sent delegations to Russia, expressed interest in joining BRICS structures, and called for the restoration of full-scale economic and political ties with the Kremlin.
The latest visit coincides with an escalating political confrontation in Sofia over the fate of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas – the largest refinery in the Balkans and a key pillar of Bulgaria’s fuel market. The president’s veto
President Rumen Radev today vetoed legislative amendments pushed through parliament at record speed – in just a few hours on 7 November, that drastically expand the powers of a state-appointed “special commercial administrator” who will oversee Lukoil’s Bulgarian assets.
The amendments were part of an emergency package adopted two weeks before U.S. sanctions on Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, private Lukoil, and their subsidiaries come into effect on 21 November. Under the new law, the special administrator could be appointed to “an unlimited number of enterprises” and would have authority to dispose of their assets – including through sale or transfer – without judicial or administrative oversight.
Radev argued that such provisions “open the door wide to arbitrariness and abuse” and violate fundamental constitutional principles such as the right to defence, judicial control over administrative acts, and the protection of private property. He also warned that the legislation contravenes established European and international norms.
The parliament has the power to overturn the President’s veto, but his move complicate the procedure of appointment of the special administrator as the 21 November deadline looms.
While the ruling GERB party insists the changes mirror the German model of trusteeship used for the Schwedt refinery, where Rosneft holds a 50% stake, the Bulgarian version goes much further, effectively allowing the state to seize and redirect company assets.
GERB leader Boyko Borissov took aim at Radev, saying the President was jealous because of a letter he had shared with him, praising Bulgaria as “the fastest and best in legislative adaptation”. However, he refused to specify its sender.
“Peevski won’t take the refinery,” Borissov added, referring to controversial MP Delyan Peevski, widely accused by opponents of trying to place an ally at the head of the refinery.
Peevski has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K. for corruption and is the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), which, although formally not part of the ruling coalition, supports it and is often suspected of influencing or even dictating its policies.
Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov later told parliament that Sofia was negotiating directly with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to secure a sanctions waiver for Lukoil’s four Bulgarian subsidiaries, but admitted that “diplomacy requires silence.”
The urgency, he said, stemmed from Washington’s demand for greater assurance that funds from fuel sales would not reach Russia.
Opposition parties, however, accused the government of rushing legislation to “cover private interests.” Democratic Bulgaria co-chair Atanas Atanasov said the government was “hiding information from the public,” while Vazrazhdane MP Iskra Mihaylova called the move “an operation organised by Peevski to privatise Lukoil.”
Romania’s path
Across the Danube, Romania has announced it will take control of Lukoil’s local subsidiary to safeguard its energy system and comply with the upcoming U.S. sanctions.
Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan said Bucharest “fully supports” the enforcement of American sanctions within the European Union and will not seek an extension of the deadline.
Lukoil operates 320 petrol stations in Romania, manages the Petrotel refinery which supplies roughly one-quarter of the national fuel market and holds exploration rights in part of the Black Sea.
“The Ministry of Energy is drafting legislation to ensure the refinery’s continued operation and stability of fuel supplies while complying with sanctions,” Ivan said, adding that details on which assets will come under state control are still being finalised.