S Deputy Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov gave more information about negotiations with Gazprom.
“It is a matter of negotiations within the framework of the current contract with Gazprom,” Hristov specified.
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“The situation with the current contract is as follows – we have agreed on 3 billion cubic meters per year. We must use 80% of them. Otherwise, we have to pay for them, regardless of whether we use them or not.”
“So we have to pay over 2 billion cubic meters. We’ve used 1 billion cubic meters. If we don’t take advantage of the contract and withdraw the quantities, we’re probably going to arbitration anyway with the potential to lose 9 figures This is something that Bulgaria needs the least now,” explained the minister, quoted by DarikNews.bg
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We need gas delivery at the lowest possible price, he noted and added that according to the contract we have now with Gazprom, the price of gas we would get under this contract is close to what we get from Azerbaijan.
“These two tankers, which the previous government contracted and will be unloaded in September, their price is about 50% higher than what we would have received under the current contract with Gazprom,” he pointed out.
Can the gas crisis be solved without Gazprom?
“>Can the gas crisis be solved without Gazprom
According to Hristov, the more politics are mixed with the economy and the election campaign with the economy, the worse things get for the end user.
The official energy minister also said that the finishing works on the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector are going according to plan and there is no delay from the schedule that was presented last week.
He announced this after a working meeting with representatives of the construction company “Avax”, “ICGB”, “Bulgartransgaz”, MRRD, MOES and DNSK near Haskovo.
There is better coordination within the teams at ICGB and the main contractor Avax, as well as with the involved services and ministries, Hristov specified. However, according to him, there is still a lot of work to be done on the gas connection project. A better idea of whether things are happening will be available next week, the minister added. He warned that even the slightest delay could cause a deviation in the overall schedule.
Hristov informed that he has invited his fellow energy ministers from Greece and Romania to visit next week, and the overall development of the project, including from the Greek side, will be discussed at the meetings, so that from October 1 it will be possible to switch to commercial operation of the interconnector.