Bulgaria on Friday nominated a senior government official to take control of a major Lukoil refinery in the east of the country following US sanctions against the Russian oil giant.

The United States last month hit Russia’s two biggest oil producers — Rosneft and Lukoil — with sanctions over its war in Ukraine.

Lukoil has owned the Neftochim plant — the largest oil refinery in the Balkans — in the Black Sea city of Burgas since 1999.

A week ago, a parliamentary vote authorised the government to seize Lukoil’s assets in Bulgaria, where it enjoys a quasi-monopoly with a network of oil depots, petrol stations, as well as firms supplying ships and aircraft.

The cabinet appointed National Revenue Agency director Rumen Spetsov as Special Administrator of the assets, economy minister Petar Di

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