site.btaGERB-UDF Proposes Two Options to Reduce Fuel Price by BGN 1 in Favour of Consumers

Two options to reduce fuel prices for consumers were presented on Friday during a press conference at GERB headquarters by Delyan Dobrev, a former GERB MP and energy minister.

Dobrev put forward two solutions to normalize the market. Lukoil Litasco now buys Russian barrels and gives them to the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas refinery for processing, after which they are sent back to Lukoil Litasco, which sells them at the filling stations at BGN 3.50 per litre, Dobrev explained.

GERB-UDF proposes that the State, through the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), for example, should compete with Lukoil Litasco and buy crude oil, then offer it for processing to Lukoil Neftochim Burgas at the real price of BGN 2.50 per litre. According to Dobrev, this way the state will compete with Lukoil Litasko on the market, and the price will be normalized.

The other option which GERB-UDF proposes as a solution to the fuel price problem is for the State to impose an excise duty of one lev per litre on fuel imports, which would be paid into the State budget and subsequently the budget would compensate everyone with one lev per litre. The current excise duty levels for fuels are about BGN 710 per 1,000 litres of gasoline, BGN 640 for diesel and about BGN 340 for gas.