“The European Commission will probe Bulgaria after a Russian oil firm (Lukoil – editorial note) in the country exploited a loophole in EU sanctions to raise €1 billion for the Kremlin’s war chest,” writes Politico, as quoted by the BNR correspondent in Brussels Anguelina Piskova.

• The oil refinery in Burgas violated EU and US embargo on Russian oil, CSD say
• The government has already taken steps against Lukoil Neftochim, PM Denkov says

Politico has also published an analysis in which it writes “…Bulgaria has likely exported almost 3 million barrels of Russian-origin oil products by sea from March to July this year alone”, and cites two examples – one of a tanker with 265,000 barrels of high-sulfur fuel oil which loaded at Burgas and unloaded at the port of Rotterdam, and the second – a tanker reloaded near Malta and redirected to Florida.

“We're paying attention to it and we've asked the Bulgarians to explain themselves,” said a senior Commission official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, Politico writes.