Litasco, the trade branch of the Russian Lukoil, registered in Switzerland, has not received offers for the sale of Neftohim Burgas refinery and is not conducting negotiations on the sale of the refinery, Litasco, the company which manages various Lukoil assets in Europe told Bloomberg. This statement comes after Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told The Financial Times that “the government’s squeeze on Russian companies has prompted Lukoil to start the process of selling Neftohim-Burgas” and that there were “indications of interest”.

• There is interest in the sale of Lukoil refinery Bulgaria's Burgas

Litasco, which is majority owner of the Bulgarian oil refinery, states that they are a Swiss company and have not appointed any public or private organization to look for potential buyers. 

"Potential buyers have shown interest, but no negotiations have been held for the sale of the Lukoil Neftochim Burgas refinery," Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said when asked whether there was a discrepancy in the information about the possible sale of Lukoil after Litasco announced that it had not received an offer and was not negotiating for the refinery. "I myself have seen that various companies have shown interest in negotiations. Litasco's headquarters said that no negotiations have taken place. These are two different stages," the prime minister said.