Litasco, a subsidiary of the Russian oil company Lukoil, announced that it was not negotiating the sale of a refinery in Bulgaria – Neftochim – with a Qatari-British consortium.

Information about such a deal was published in the Financial Times two days ago. The publication claimed that Lukoil had sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin’s administration asking for the green light to start negotiations on the deal.

Unofficially, Bulgarian sources also confirm the leaking of such a letter.

The Russian company says it is considering various options for its business in Bulgaria but has not yet decided.

The Financial Times quoted sources as saying that Lukoil plans to sell its refinery in Bulgaria to a Qatari-British consortium made up of Oryx Global and trading house DL Hudson by the end of the year – but Acting Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said on Wednesday he was unaware of any planned deal.

“The company (Litasco) stresses that the suggestions made in these publications are inaccurate and misleading, in particular, that no talks are being held with the aforementioned Qatari-British consortium and there have been no communications with Russian Federation authorities on the subject,” said Litasco.

“Lukoil reserves the right to protect its commercial reputation from any misleading representations that may appear in the media,” it added.

Litasco says it is committed to a transparent process if a sale is planned and will continue to inform the Bulgarian authorities and all interested parties.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)