Parliament limits powers of special manager of Lukoil assets in Bulgaria
The National Assembly approved on June 4 the second and final reading of amendments that limit the powers of the special manager of Lukoil assets in Bulgaria and introduce stricter state and judicial supervision over the official’s actions.
The second reading of the amendments, tabled by Roumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria, was approved without debate and was backed by Progressive Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change.
Most GERB-UDF MPs abstained from voting.
The second reading vote came a day after Radev’s Cabinet appointed Evgeni Simeonov as the Lukoil special manager, dismissing Roumen Spetsov from the post.
According to Progressive Bulgaria, the amendments protect national interests.
The position of special manager was introduced in 2025 for the four Lukoil companies in Bulgaria, after the company was placed under sanctions by the US, UK and EU.
The special manager had extremely broad powers – to intervene in the rights of the owners of the enterprise, to carry out disposal transactions with shares or stakes in the capital of the enterprise, to dispose of or alienate the company’s property. The decisions of the special manager were not subject to appeal.
The special manager will now be required to submit monthly reports on the activities of each of the managed companies to the Economy Ministry. The reports must be submitted within a short period of time after the end of the respective month.
The amendments also introduces the possibility of judicial control over any transactions with shares, stocks or operations with the property of the companies that the special manager carried out.
The amendments enable a wide range of interested parties, including the state, the Economy Minister, prosecutors, shareholders and the Russian owners of Lukoil, to challenge in court transactions that they consider to have been carried out in violation of the law.
