The Consultative Council for Cooperation between the State Authorities and the Persons Carrying out Economic Activities Related to Oil and Products of Petroleum Origin under the Minister of Economy and Industry discussed today the mechanisms for the state to take over the operational management of the Burgas refinery in case of a force majeure situation. Such a hypothesis is imposed by the Law on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Petroleum and Petroleum Products, adopted at the end of the 48th National Assembly’s mandate.
‘It is necessary to create criteria and conditions to be met by the special commercial managers of the critical infrastructure sites, such as the refinery in Burgas,’ Minister Nikola Stojanov said during today’s meeting. In his words, ‘the state must be prepared and react within hours if the situation requires it’. That is why the Minister of Economy put the topic in the focus of the work of the Consultative Council as a first step to create a working and clearly established mechanism for the implementation of the legal provision in case of force majeure.
An expert working group is being set up within the Consultative Council to develop the methodology by which potential candidates for the position will be assessed, it became clear during the meeting. The participants in the meeting agreed that the number of governors should be specified, as the law stipulates that they should be up to three. ‘This group will also detail the critical infrastructure sites, the management of which would require the creation of this position, because the law provides for this provision to apply not only to the Burgas refinery,’ Minister Stojanov stressed.
The register of sites, which includes both petrol stations and filling stations, will be digitised. This decision was also taken during the Consultative Council meeting. In this way, all registered establishments will be visible and control over those who operate without registration will be increased, participants in the meeting said.
Today’s meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Yanko Topalov, who is also Vice-Chairman of the Consultative Council.
The Consultative Council is an advisory body, which includes representatives of the Ministry of Energy and Industry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Executive Agency ‘Automobile Administration’ and the Executive Agency ‘Railway Administration’, the General Directorate ‘Fire Safety and Population Protection’ at the Ministry of Interior, the General Directorate ‘Combating Organized Crime” at the Ministry of Interior, State Agency ‘State Reserve and Wartime Stocks’, State Agency for Metrological and Technical Supervision, Bulgarian Institute of Metrology, Customs Agency, National Revenue Agency, Commission on Protection of Competition, State Agency ‘National Security’ and representative branch organizations, economic activities related to oil and products of petroleum origin.
We remind you that the Law on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Related to Petroleum and Petroleum Products, Art. 27a. (3) states that ‘In the event of the establishment of circumstances that threaten national security, public order, the supply of critical resources, distortion of competition in the case of a monopoly or dominant position, where this threatens national security, or violation of international restrictive measures or those of the European Union that are binding on the Republic of Bulgaria, the Consultative Council shall send a reasoned opinion to the Minister of Economy and Industry with a proposal for the appointment of a special commercial manager in the entity operating critical infrastructure sites. A copy of the opinion shall also be sent to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria with a proposal to convene the Consultative Council for National Security.’