The US Treasury has extended to 24 April 2027 its permission for some deals with Lukoil's Bulgarian companies, including the Burgas refinery. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the move.
The permission comes as general licence No. 130B. It covers the refinery, the chain of petrol stations and the companies that supply aviation and marine fuel. It replaces the previous licence from April, which expires on Friday.
Washington also issued general licence No. 128D for certain deals with Lukoil petrol stations outside Russia.
The exemptions do not lift the sanctions on the company. They do not cover deals with other sanctioned parties or activities banned under US sanctions.
The US imposed sanctions on Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer, and on Rosneft in October 2025. The aim is to press Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
After the sanctions, Lukoil said it would sell its international assets: stakes in European refineries, stakes in oil fields in Iraq and Kazakhstan, and an international network of petrol stations. Since then the US has extended the permissions for certain operations several times while buyers are sought.
The first special permission for the Bulgarian companies came in November 2025, after the state named Rumen Spetsov, former head of the National Revenue Agency, as special manager of Lukoil's business in Bulgaria. In the same month, MPs changed the law so that assets under special management can be sold without the Russian owner's consent.
The Bulgarian companies are directly owned by Switzerland's Litasco, which Lukoil fully owns. At the end of February, Litasco warned Bulgaria that it could start arbitration proceedings.
The sale of the international assets has not been settled. A deal with the commodities trader Gunvor Group, later renamed Sentalion Group, fell through. At the start of the year, Lukoil reached an agreement with the US investment firm Carlyle Group, but it lapsed in the summer. Carlyle said it is no longer in active talks.
According to the annual report of Lukoil International, OFAC did not approve the January deal, and its deadline expired at the end of July.
A US newspaper reports that an investor group of billionaire Todd Boehly is negotiating for a share of the foreign assets. Most of the holdings would be taken over by Middle Eastern investors: entities linked to the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, and two billionaire brothers from Qatar. According to the same report, the Qataris are business partners of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, and of his wife Ivanka Trump.
The US Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sale talks.