Lukoil Bulgaria Downs Fuel Prices, Far from Enough

Dominant fuel seller Lukoil Bulgaria decreased on Thursday petrol and diesel prices by some 2%, turning a blind eye to the much sharper drop in crude oil costs on global markets.

The A-95H, the most widely used and lowest octane gasoline in the country, will see a decrease of 2.72% and its price will be BGN 2 274, 00 per 1,000L.

The A-98H gasoline will be sold at BGN 2 334, 00 per 1,000L. Diesel fuel will cost BGN 2 239,20 per 1,000L.

This is the second time that Lukoil reduces fuel prices since the beginning of the month. For the same period of time the price of Brent crude oil in London fell by nearly 4.7 percent, while in New York even lighter crude oil dropped by nearly 10%.

Bulgaria's Neftochim, the only oil refinery in the country, controlled by Russia's giant Lukoil, won on Wednesday the first round of a court battle with the state over its licenses.

Bulgaria's top court ruled that Lukoil's Bulgarian refinery can continue operating until a final decision is taken on the tax dispute with the customs office.

The refinery reduced crude processing earlier this month and was threatened with effectively stopping production after the customs office revoked its licenses over failure to install fuel flow metering to make possible monitoring by the customs officials.

The refinery has been widely accused for the high fuel prices in Bulgaria.