National Revenue Agency head nominated to be government’s special administrator of Lukoil assets in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Economy Minister Petar Dilov said on November 14 that National Revenue Agency head Roumen Spetsov was being nominated to be the special administrator of Lukoil’s assets in Bulgaria, which include the country’s sole oil refinery.

The announcement came a week after US sanctions on Russian fuel giants Rosneft and Lukoil are due to take effect.

As The Sofia Globe reported, Bulgaria’s National Assembly approved on November 7 amendments to the country’s law regulating operations in the oil and oil products industry, expanding the powers of special representatives appointed to manage assets deemed of critical importance.

Head of state President Roumen Radev exercised his limited power of veto against the bill on November 12, but Parliament voted to overturn the veto on November 13.

After the legislation was promulgated in the State Gazette on November 14, Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov called a meeting of the Cabinet security council, with the nomination of the special administrator on the agenda.

Speaking at the beginning of the meeting, Zhelyazkov said that the refinery is an element of critical infrastructure for which the state has its commitments for the benefit of society.

“The goal is for it to continue its operational activities unhindered after November 21,” Zhelyazkov said.

Dilov told a briefing after the security council meeting that Spetsov meets all the requirements of the law.

“I believe that the proposed candidacy will guarantee effective and lawful control over the person operating the critical infrastructure,” Dilov said.

“Mr. Spetsov manages the most important agency in Bulgaria – the revenue agency. He has managed it under many different governments and has always demonstrated professionalism, political impartiality and managerial skills. He is neutral towards local and international participants in the competitive oil and oil products business.”

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev told the briefing: “There is an intensive daily dialogue, every new day there is a new development. What has been undertaken so far has been coordinated with our partners”.

Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov said: “We have taken absolutely all actions with all possible control bodies – the Ministries of Justice, Economy, Transport and a special expert group that developed all scenarios.

“The most important scenario was the one in which the state would receive the relevant derogation or the relevant general licence within 21 days, so that the facilities related to Lukoil could continue their work quite calmly on the territory of the country – these are the four subsidiaries of the sanctioned parent company Lukoil,” Stankov said.

“Our most important task is the tranquility of energy supplies until the general licence is received,” he said.

According to Spetsov’s official biography on the National Revenue Agency website, he graduated from the economics academy in Svishtov with majors in economics and trade and internal financial control, and the Interior Ministry Academy with a major in national security protection.

From 2001 to 2015, he held various expert and management positions at the National Revenue Agency.

His professional experience is related to analysis and investigation of tax fraud, risk assessment of commercial sectors, joint work with the National Agency for Taxation and Customs, the Prosecutor’s Office and foreign partner organizations and services. He was a consultant in the field of finance and tax legislation.

Spetsov was first appointed to head the agency by an interim government in May 2021, at the time that Assen Vassilev – now the leader of the opposition We Continue the Change party – was caretaker Finance Minister. Spetsov was relieved of the post in August 2022 by the caretaker government of the time, and reappointed in June 2023 at the time of the Nikolai Denkov government, in which Vassilev was again Finance Minister.

The Cabinet is expected to approve Spetsov’s nomination as special administrator on November 14, and his appointment to be registered in the Commercial Register on November 17, the briefing was told.

(Photo of Spetsov: BNT)

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