Bulgaria's Lukoil-owned oil refinery will be able to buy crude oil from all Switzerland-registered traders from July 1 after Litasco, its main shareholder, agreed to lift a block on the purchases, a refinery official said on Tuesday.
Evgeni Simeonov, a new special manager overseeing Lukoil's RUS:LKOH operations in the country, said the restrictions Litasco had placed on Neftochim Burgas had seriously hampered the refinery's operation.
Litasco put the block in place after Bulgaria introduced a special manager for Lukoil's operations in November 2025. It issued legal proceedings against Bulgaria over the move in a Swiss court in February.
But at a meeting on Tuesday, Litasco agreed to withdraw all restrictions, enabling the company to purchase oil from traders registered in Switzerland. A Litasco representative said it was also withdrawing the legal complaint.
"This is a big victory on the path we have to walk together to stabilize the work of the refinery," Simeonov told a news conference.