site.btaPM Reaffirms There Is no Reason for Fuel Panic Buying, Blames Youth Chapter of Formerly Ruling GERB – wrap-up

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov reaffirmed here Friday that there is no reason for fuel panic buying and said that people linked to the youth chapter of the formerly ruling GERB party were behind the panic buying earlier in the week. The Prime Minister was speaking to the press after a meeting with the members of the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association. What started the panic buying on Wednesday were photos of several small gas stations with cars lining up for fuel, that went viral, and we have seen that the people who organized that are connected with the GERB youth organization, said Petkov.

He said that people's fear of the war was taken advantage of to create panic for several hours.

Both Petkov and the association of large gas stations have repeatedly said in the past couple of days, that Bulgaria has enough fuel stock, that while prices are trending up globally, there is no reason to expect them to go through the roof overnight, and that there is no reason for panic buying.

The Prime Minister said Friday that Bulgaria is experiencing no shortage of fuel. "What is more, we have large stocks across the system. There are no problems along the fuel supply chain," he added.

He said that the government and the Petroleum and Gas Association agreed that any time they notice such behaviour - hybrid attacks, attempts to undermine the political system or to win political dividends at the expense of people lining up to buy something - they will respond with a coordinated response and inform the population that somebody is trying to manipulate them. 

Petkov urged Bulgarian people to listen to what the government is telling them.

What he had to tell them now was that "we have fuel everywhere, we have sufficient stock and tankers with more supplies are on their way to the fuel storage facilities". 

Asked about the higher-than-average prices on some gas stations on Wednesday, he said that some gas stations had low stocks and chose to raise their prices rather than close down. It was photos of such gas stations that went viral and started the panic buying, he explained.

The meeting of the Prime Minister with the Petroleum and Gas Association was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Industry and Economy and Industry Minister Korneliya Ninova and Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov.  

Energy Minister: Bulgaria passed fuel panic buying stress test

Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said at the news conference following the meeting with the petroleum and Gas Association that Bulgaria had passed the stress test of fuel panic buying earlier this week. "It is one thing where demand increases by 10 to 15 or even 20 per cent, and another thing to see demand treble or quadruple, milk tank trucks filled with fuel is strange, to say the least. The good news is that this stress test was passed thanks to all the colleagues who did what they had to do for the market to hold out against this pressure," Nikolov told a news conference after a meeting with the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association.

Regarding fuel prices, Nikolov said that 6.5 million-strong-Bulgaria is open to the entire European market. "Both producer and retail-chain prices directly depend on international markets and, unfortunately, on the prices quoted by Russia. Despite Russia's influence, oil prices have increased by several per cent in the past few weeks, and Bulgaria is not an island on which prices remain unchanged regardless of the any situation," Nikolov commented. 

Economy Minister orders checks of all gas stations and fuel traders

Economy Minister Kornelia Ninova has tasked the Consumer Protection Commission to probe gas stations across the country in connection with scaremongering over fuel prices and prevention of speculative prices, the Ministry said. “We won’t allow anyone to make excess profits at the expense of people. We have launched checks with the help of the Consumer Protection Commission and the respective directorate at the Economy Ministry. We will use all legal mechanisms to protect consumers,” said Ninova quoted by her Ministry.

The Directorate for Regulation of Economic Activities with the Economy Ministry has begun checks of individuals and companies who deal in wholesale trade of oil and oil products for possible violations of the registration regime.