According to media reports, Turkish conglomerate Cengiz Holding and Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR are moving forward with plans to acquire Lukoil’s Neftochim Burgas refinery in Bulgaria. Their joint bid was submitted more than a year ago, reportedly surpassing several international competitors. The deal, estimated at around 2.5 billion dollars, would give the two companies ownership of one of the largest oil refining facilities in southeastern Europe.
The Burgas refinery has an annual processing capacity of 8 to 10 million tons of crude oil and includes a wide retail network of fuel stations across Bulgaria. Cengiz Holding, active in construction, energy, mining and tourism, has indicated that the acquisition would support its expansion into the fuel retail and service station market. For SOCAR, the transaction would reinforce its strategic footprint in the region, complementing assets such as the STAR refinery in Turkey.
Lukoil, which produces around 2 percent of the world’s oil, operates multiple international assets including the Petrotel refinery in Romania, a 75 percent stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oil field, and shares in several terminals and retail fuel networks across Europe. The company also supplies crude oil to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, as well as SOCAR’s STAR refinery.
After the United States introduced new sanctions on Russian energy companies, Lukoil announced a preliminary agreement to sell its foreign assets to Swiss trading firm Gunvor. The transaction stalled when the US Department of the Treasury signaled that Gunvor would not receive the required authorization.
If completed, the acquisition by Cengiz Holding and SOCAR would represent one of the most significant changes in Bulgaria’s refining industry in years, with potential implications for regional fuel supply and market dynamics amid ongoing geopolitical pressures.
