The Lukoil Neftohim Burgas refinery is running normally and Bulgaria does not face a fuel shortage, says the company's special administrator, Simeonov. He says the risk of a cash crunch, raised earlier, has now passed.

The plant keeps production running and is carrying out the repairs needed to keep equipment working properly, he explained. He calls the refinery's condition good and satisfactory.

Simeonov would not discuss fuel reserves, saying the topic touches on national security.

He says the ban on diesel exports has not brought fuel prices down — if anything, it has done the opposite. Fuel is traded on exchanges, he says, and its price is set there, so the company cannot simply pick its own selling price, because the business runs on global rules.

Selling fuel below cost, or using the company to control prices, could drain its capital, the special administrator warned.