Sat, Nov 21 2009
Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov

Lukoil Bulgaria has decreased the price of fuel in relation to the current dynamic of the local market for petrol goods, as declared in an official statement from the company, quoted by Investor. The move comes against the backdrop of Russia's Gazprom restricting the flow of gas to Europe due to the ongoing row with Ukraine, with shortages in some cases being as much as a third, and with gas supplies dwindling for the Bulgarian market as well.
Russian oil heavyweight Lukoil may trim planned investments for 2009 and postpone by a year or two the construction of a waste treatment plant at its Bourgas refinery on the Black Sea if oil prices dropped to $45 a barrel, the company's president Vagit Alekperov said, as quoted by Interfax news agency. Lukoil Neftochim, the refining arm of the Russian company's subsidiary in Bulgaria, declined to comment on the statement.
Russian oil processing company LUKoil and Bulgaria's fuel retailer Petrol shook hands on April 24 over a deal that reconciled a long-running dispute between the two and looks set to trigger a reshuffle in the fuel retailer market. Under the agreement, cleared on April 24 by Bulgaria's anti-trust authority CPC, the two companies agreed to the withdrawal of all lawsuits against each other and to the sale of 75 gas stations and a fuel depot in Sofia's Iliantsi neighbourhood of Petrol to LUKoil.
Strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but MPs have put it back on the agenda.
Bulgaria’s Cabinet seeks to reverse recent changes in the telecommunications sector
Kremikovtzi’s prospects for a recovery plan appear increasingly distant
Bulgarians are getting the hang of debit and credit cards, MasterCard says
The two telecoms, both set up to challenge former fixed-line state monopoly BTC, will merge operations and expect to report 20 million euro in revenue and a gross profit of five million euro in 2010.