Filling station

More than one in seven gas stations in Greece, or 15 percent, deliver less fuel to their customers for their money, according to a university study, while another report showed that hikes in the special consumption tax on fuel will likely mean that the revenue target will not be met next year.

Two women have been injured when a crane crashed onto a petrol station in Sofia, the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

The incident took place around 6.30 p.m. EEST (1530 GMT) at a petrol station on Nikola Vaptsarov Blvd in Lozenets district, in the southern part of the city.

The two women were taken to hospital, the ministry said in a statement.

A bomb exploded near a pharmacy located in a block of flats in the Bulgarian city of Burgas overnight.

No people were injured, but the explosion caused material damages to the pharmacy and the flat above it.

The store is owned by businessman Veselin Mareshki, who runs a chain of pharmacies bearing his surname across the country.

Saudi Arabia said on Dec. 28 it was raising petrol prices by more than 50 percent for some products from Dec. 29 as it cuts a range of subsidies after posting a record budget deficit at $95 billion.

Prices will also increase for electricity, water, diesel and kerosene under the cuts decided by the council of ministers headed by King Salman, the official SPA news agency reported.

Bulgaria's Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski assured that the inspections on the quality of the fuels at petrol stations will continue.

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on Tuesday, Lukarski stated that the fuel, which is sold at petrol stations has a higher quality.

Bulgarian authorities have temporarily blocked the sale of a total of 660 tonnes of fuel by placing seals at filling stations amid ongoing inspections.

The checks are conducted by the prosecuting authority, the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security, the Customs Agency, and the National Revenue Agency, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski has argued that companies based in China, Sweden, and Germany plan to move their production units to Bulgaria.

Lukarski announced in an interview for Nova TV that the companies seeking to develop their businesses in Bulgaria functioned in the car part manufacturing segment.

Less than 1% of the flow meters checked at Bulgarian filling stations over the past three days have been found to be either tampered with or showing incorrect readings, the Economy Ministry said on Sunday.

Part of forthcoming inspections at petrol stations will be surprising so that the state performs successfully its functions in the fuel market, Deputy Prime Minister Domislav Donchev has said.

The head of the Bulgarian Customs Agency Vanyo Tanov hinted on Friday at the possible existence of price cartel between the petrol stations in the country.

According to Tanov, the price of a liter of petrol including excise duties and VAT was BGN 1.8, so the difference in the final prices found at petrol stations hinted of a cartel.