Bulgaria has published a draft ordinance detailing procedures and conditions for registering entities doing business activity related to oil and petroleum products. The publication was released for public consultations that began on 27 May 2019.
All interested parties can file suggestions on the contents of the draft ordinance by 26 June 2019.
The draft ordinance follows the recently adopted Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products, and regulates the following:
- The creation, maintenance, content and oversight of a register of entities doing business in oil and petroleum products;
- The template of the bank guarantee and the steps for utilising security under the Act;
- Template documents for completing registration, and information on all documentation that needs to be provided.
The following activities are subject to registration:
- wholesale trade in oil and petroleum products;
- retail trade in oil and petroleum products;
- storage of oil and petroleum products originating outside of tax warehouses or storage facilities of registered recipients within the meaning of the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act;
- transport of oil and petroleum products;
- filling of cylinders with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) outside of tax warehouses;
- distribution of cylinders with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG);
- temporary storage and/or fueling by a farmer, registered under the Agricultural Producers Support Act, with his own petroleum products, outside of tax warehouses or storage facilities of registered recipients, within the meaning of the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act, intended for the farmer’s own business, which are not subject to subsequent sale.
The draft ordinance provides separate registration for each of the activities.
The register not only contains information on the entities doing business in Bulgaria's oil industry, but on oil-industry facilities and products. The aim is to provide clarity and full transparency on business processes and products.
The Ministry of Economy will be responsible for the register, which will be publicly available on its website.
Registration can be done online or at designated administrative offices. Upon registration, the Minister of Economy or authorised agents will issue all relevant certificates and documents. The Minister or a designated deputy will also be in charge of the drawdown of bank guarantees or cash deposits provided as security under the Act.
It is not yet clear when the draft Ordinance will enter into force, but we understand that the Government is planning to have it applicable within 2019.
If you have any questions on the above, please contact Kostadin Sirleshtov and Denitsa Dudevska.
For more information on the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products, see Law-Now publication here.
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