LUKOIL’s Bulgaria refinery has licences restored

The Bulgarian refiner owned by Russia’s LUKOIL has had restored its operational licences after reaching an out-of-court agreement with the customs office, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
The agreement comes after the customs office said the 142,000 barrels-per-day plant at the Black Sea port of Burgas has installed meters to align with tax regulations.
“We have received protocols from the customs office that our tax fuel depots are in compliance. We decided to withdraw our appeal and have our licences restored,” the spokeswoman for LUKOIL Bulgaria said.
A customs office spokeswoman confirmed the deal and said the court has accepted the arrangement and closed the appeal case.
She said the refinery was given another 18 months to fully equip its fuel tax depot at the Black Sea port of Rosenets with specific meters, but added that the level of equipment at present also allowed proper monitoring.
LUKOIL had appealed a customs office’s decision to strip it of key operational licences for its failure to install product metering on time. The meters are required to enable officials to monitor production and calculate taxes precisely.
The refinery had been allowed to process crude oil and sell its fuels until the court ruled.

Reuters, 24.01.2012