The controversies surrounding Lukoil Neftochim's operations have reached a new stage, with Bulgarian legal experts arguing whether the preliminary production halt should not have remained in force for 6 more days. Photo by BGNES
The Lukoil refinery in Bulgaria has resumed operations despite the revoked tax warehouse operator permits.
The director of the Burgas customs office told Tuesday Lukoil Neftochim CEO Sergey Andronov that the refinery may go back to its previous mode of operation.
The announcement comes one day after Administrative Court Sofia City (ACSC) stopped the preliminary execution of the Customs Agency decision on the withdrawal of Lukoil's license.
The crude oil processing plant in the Black Sea city can work under the conditions preceding the punitive measure of until the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) decides on the appeal lodged by the Customs Agency.
According to a report of the state-owned TV channel BNT, little after Lukoil was officially given the green light, the tanker terminal started servicing incoming and outgoing oil tankers.
After the refinery was stripped of its license, the oil processing installations of the plant were switched into hibernation mode, which allowed it to start working at full capacity within 8 hours after the permission.
Although Lukoil resumes operations at full steam, customs inspectors will keep monitoring the refinery and the Rosenetz Oil terminal, as well as a number of other sites, as announced in July.
Customs units will continue to keep track of the volumes of unloaded crude oil and of final products sold by the refinery and send reports to the Customs Agency headquarters in Sofia.
The Lukoil saga drew widely divergent reactions from legal experts, with some saying that the preliminary execution ruling takes effect immediately, while others insisted that the act of the Administrative Court Sofia City did not enter into force until the 7-day appeal period expired.
According to a statement of the ACSC, "The (two) rulings have not taken effect, they can be appealed through an interim appeal filed within a seven-day period before the Supreme Administrative Court."