The Lukoil Neftochim vs Customs Agency lawsuit was terminated Tuesday as the Administrative Court Sofia City approved an agreement reached between the parties.

The trial was initiated by the Burgas-based refinery to appeal the withdrawal of its tax warehouse operator license by the customs authorities.

Lukoil's tax warehouse operator permits for the Neftochim refinery and the Rosenets oil terminal were revoked by the Customs Agency on July 22 after it failed to observe the June 26, 2011 statutory deadline for the installation of electronic devices reporting incoming and outgoing volumes to the National Revenue Agency (NRA).

After lodging an appeal against the preliminary execution of the individual administrative acts issued by the Customs Agency head, the Neftochim refinery was allowed to stay in operation until the case was resolved with a verdict on the grounds that a disrupted production process would result in "substantial or hard to repair damages" for the company.

On January 16, 2012, the Customs Agency said in a statement that the Lukoil Neftochim refinery had been awarded protocols certifying the compliance of its measuring equipment with the statutory requirements.

"Starting January 16, the operations of the oil refinery comply with the provisions of the Excise Duties and Tax since Warehouses Act", according to the customs authority's press office.

The Rosenets oil terminal, where the installation process has not been completed, will operate on a suspended license for two years.

Rosenets' partial compliance with the statutory requirements was made possible by amendments to an ordinance allowing the Customs Agency head to extend the deadline for the mandatory installation by 2 years.

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