„Today we met with the Petroleum and Gas Association, all members, Lukoil producers and discussed the situation. It turns out, as we knew on Wednesday, that not only are there quantities, we have large quantities throughout the system. All are charged and there is no problem in the whole circuit. The only reason for the panic on Wednesday was that photos from several small gas stations were used, which were sent and used on social media on a huge scale. They have gone everywhere under political or hybrid attack. So far, the people we see who have organized this are connected to the youth organization of GERB / MGERB /.“
This was announced during a briefing by the Prime Minister Kiril Petkov after a meeting with members of the Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association. The talks were also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds and Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Industry and Minister of Economy and Industry Cornelia Ninova and Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov. The Prime Minister added:
“This is how they are now using the fear of war, and although the whole system has been fully refueled, there is panic for several hours, which is trying to get people to line up, fill tanks, for no reason at all.”
“From now on, what we all agreed on, if we feel this type of hybrid attack, political shaking of the system, trying to make some political dividends on the backs of the people lining up, we will have a coordinated response, immediately. To have communication back with the population, so as not to succumb to such lies and manipulations”, Petkov stressed.
The prime minister called for monitoring what the government says and assured that fuel is everywhere now, stocks are available and tankers are on their way.
At that moment, there is a small increase based on what is happening and it can be seen all over Europe, Petkov confirmed and noted that the comment was about Wednesday’s panic with gas stations that offer fuel for over BGN 3. He added:
“I am glad that this panic has been controlled and, as you can see, the demand for the next day was quite normal, and the prices are in their normal size. Yes, they are higher. Yes, they are rising worldwide, but no – no, those panic prices we saw. So for all these explanations, for which I do not know which winter of Mr. Borissov, it is just a pity to use the fear of the people for political purposes.”
“If the demand increases by 10-15-20%, it is a situation, and within one day the demand is 3 or 4 times higher, if we see tanks that are generally for milk, but are filled with diesel fuel is, to put it mildly, strange. However, the good news from this situation is that the stress test has been overcome. () In terms of prices, Bulgaria is 6 and a half million countries in terms of consumption. It is open to the whole European market. The prices of both the producers in Bulgaria and the chains are directly dependent on international markets and unfortunately at the moment and to a greater extent on the corresponding quotations in Russia, but even if we exclude this factor in the last few weeks prices have risen with a few tens of percent of the main component used for the production of fuels – oil. So, no matter how much we want to be an island where stability keeps prices – this is virtually impossible”, added Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov.
uring the briefing it became clear that the Council of Ministers will become a point of contact with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to Petkov, the goal is to have no intermediaries for information, so that we can send signals of corruption as expeditiously as possible.
