RETAIL FUEL PRICES IN BULGARIA APPROACH RECORD HIGHS

Retail fuel prices have Bulgaria approached record high levels registered in end-March over the past few days.

Diesel reached the peak rate of BGN 2.73 per liter registered on March 21 (against the backdrop of Brent crude trading at over USD 120 per barrel), but this time the record price tag stayed only for one day.

The most common type of gasoline, A95, sold for BGN 2.66 per liter on Monday, or BGN 0.04 less than on March 21, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

On Tuesday morning, Lukoil filling stations offered gasoline A95 at BGN 2.64 per liter and diesel for BGN 2.71 per liter (Lukoil is also owner of Bulgaria's sole refinery, Burgas-based Lukoil Neftochim).

Retail prices went up after an increase in wholesale rates on Saturday (the fourth increase in wholesale fuel prices since the beginning of July).

Since the beginning of July, diesel prices have increased by BGN 0.23 and gasoline prices by BGN 0.18.

Experts have attributed the latest retail price increase to the crude oil price spike on global markets in the past two weeks and the increased USD/EUR exchange rate.

In mid-June, Lukoil Bulgaria stopped providing official explanations for wholesale price movements, saying that the company was being inspected by the Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK).

Bulgaria's anti-trust watchdog is investigating allegations about a cartel agreement between fuel retailers Lukoil, OMV, Naftex Petrol and Rompetrol.

KZK declared recently that it had detected irregularities but it has not come up with a final ruling on the matter.