Today in the Council of Ministers we listened to all services and experts, as well as the representative of the state in “Lukoil”. These people are very much against money going to Putin. They are of the opinion that for the first time Russian oil should be reduced to 0%. He explained (the state representative at Lukoil) that between 100 and 50% is easy, but between 50% and 0% is very dangerous.
This was stated by Kiril Petkov on the air of bTV, commenting on the refusal of the deputies for the derogation for the refinery in Burgas to expire in 3 days.
“Oil is always a mixture, the mixture reaches 48%, but he said – because neither I nor Delyan Dobrev are experts: before March 1, if 100% of Russian oil is stopped, technologically there is one big question mark.
It is not known whether these installations will work properly. Experiments are needed. If Lukoil works with a real desire to make this happen, March 1 could be the date. September is the optimal safe date,” explained Petkov.
“Before March 1, if it is stopped, the risks for the refinery, for the supply of diesel and gasoline at gas stations, are great.
There are two problems.
There may be no fuel at the gas stations. Oil contracts cannot be negotiated for 3 days, you have to buy now – the prices are very high. Second. The refinery could shut down. Between the lack of quantities and the high prices, putting all of this on the counter to play political games is not responsible at all,” Petkov said categorically.
According to him, a political trap was set for PP and DB today.
“What happened today is that they saw a political trap that they wanted to set for the government. On the one hand, to set an unrealistic deadline that we would reject and say Putin’s coalition.
On the other hand, if by chance we roll up and vote with them, the prices will jump so much that in a week there will be protests. Although it is their proposal, if I am a voter I will say that Denkov is the prime minister and why he agreed.
We set it on March 15, because this is the optimal short term given by the experts,” explained the co-chairman of the PP.
Derogation and taxes
“What the Minister of Finance expressed today in the SC is that Lukoil finally pays the full amount of taxes, that is 100 million per month. That is, the Minister of Finance expects 400 million by the end of the year. Removing the derogation, making a shock of the system, buying at the high spot price, they won’t have that profit from which to pay the taxes we’re talking about.
What is the risk?
We could lose 400 million by the end of the year and between 50 and 100 million by March. Realistically, if there is no profit, there is no way to pay taxes.
100 million per month is two hospitals per month. We have so many places for this income. We introduce risk into the system, so that the prices at the gas stations jump, we introduce risk, whether the refinery will work at all and whether there will be a supply of non-Russian oil.
And we put all this on the table to have political games. This is because they have lost Sofia and Varna and are wondering where to end political instability,” said Petkov.
“Trust us! The PP will not put the country at risk, nor will we raise the price of petrol and diesel for the people. If that is the price, we are ready to take it. We believe that what we have proposed today is the right thing. Let read this sign. We are not afraid of the risk of the government falling, because we have promised that we will protect the interests of Bulgarian citizens,” Petkov stated categorically.
“The second thing they tried to mix up. There was a risk that some of the Russian oil would be exported elsewhere. We absolutely agree that if someone cheated European regulations and someone in Lukoil cheated with exports, we will also be firm in punishment.
Customs said today that every single ship sent to Ukraine, we are waiting from Ukraine to see if every single ship has arrived there. If we see a discrepancy, we will impose very serious sanctions and there will be very serious punitive measures.
But to risk the price of diesel and petrol and the stock at gas stations, we will not risk it in any way. If they want to vote tomorrow, let the government fall, but we will not bring Bulgaria into an energy crisis,” he added.
What did you talk about with DPS and GERB
“DPS and GERB. There is a big consolidation, they work as one party. They are one party. They are GERB-DPS. The separation of GERB and DPS in a large part of policies is a matter of different names. Today we even saw that the importer of the bill, Delyan Dobrev was not in the hall, the defense was from the DPS,” said Petkov.
“The other thing that was seen was that during the vote, while the neo-coalition partners left the hall, the opposition was in the hall, but did not register. Today I felt that the PP bears the sole responsibility for running a country,” Petkov pointed out.
Borisov and the support for Terziev
“For me, it is a matter of propriety not to quote what we talked about with Borisov. Personally, I do not respect when some politicians talk about their conversations through the media. I would only ask you to ask Borisov if Petkov called you, or if Borisov called Petkov.
Borisov dropped a bombshell: Petkov gave me an ultimatum, if this is not done – the cabinet falls!
What I really said is that for me it is really quite dangerous to have Vanya Grigorova as mayor of Sofia. For me, some of the parties behind her were scary for me. I didn’t dial his phone, he dialed mine,” said Petkov.
Asen Vassilev’s budget and the tax on gas transmission
“Political maneuvers and political circuses, they are really better than us, but when it comes to the economy, there is no one better than Asen Vassilev.
When all of Europe is on the brink of recession, tightening the belts, reducing social payments is a huge mistake. We need to be at a 35% deficit to enter the Eurozone, but at the same time we believe that social policy should remain. Pensions must be raised,” explained Petkov.
“Vasilev is making unprecedented investments in Bulgaria in the various units – infrastructure, municipalities. We are trying to enter the Eurozone. We will achieve a 3% deficit, together with this we will have 12 billion investments and we will preserve the social policy.
Everything else would be a fundamentally wrong direction, because when you tighten the car and your entire market goes into recession, the risk of recession becomes huge for Bulgaria. Cost optimization, priority projects can be negotiated. But tightening the belt will also be a line that we will not cross,” said Petkov
Will the government survive?
It depends on them, we will be in the hall, emphasized Petkov.
