ATHENS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bulgaria has one month of

gasoline supplies left as it braces for the start of U.S.

sanctions on Russia's Lukoil, which owns the country's largest

oil refinery and most storage and pipeline infrastructure, the

chairman of the state reserves agency said on Tuesday.

The U.S. and Britain last month imposed sanctions on Lukoil

and Rosneft, Russia's two biggest oil

companies, over Moscow's war in Ukraine, threatening their

operations that still sprawl across Europe.

The U.S. sanctions, which are scheduled to begin on November

21, have raised concerns about fuel supplies ahead of winter in

Bulgaria, where Lukoil runs the Burgas refinery, a key part of

the company's foreign business empire, and hundreds of petrol

stations.

35 DAYS RESERVES OF GASOLINE, 50 OF DIESEL

Bulgaria has reserves of gasoline for about 35 days and over

50 days of diesel, Assen Asenov was quoted as saying by the

Bulgarian BTA news agency.

Energy analysts said that the country has more stocks of

crude and oil products outside Bulgaria but that it must import

those before Lukoil's pipeline network falls under the

sanctions.

"50% of the ready fuels are in other EU countries and some

of the crude as well, which means that the government needs to

activate these contracts ASAP," said Martin Vladimirov, director

of the Energy and Climate Program at the Centre for the Study of

Democracy in Sofia.

Bulgaria, which will adopt the euro currency on January 1

2026, has made moves to secure supplies since the sanctions were

announced last month. It temporarily banned exports of some

fuels, mainly diesel and aviation fuel, to EU member states.

Last week, its parliament adopted legal changes allowing it

to take over the refinery and sell it to a new owner to shield

the plant from U.S. sanctions.

This week, Bulgarian authorities conducted inspections and

implemented security measures at the Burgas refinery in what

authorities described as a measure to preserve critical

infrastructure.