Bulgaria invited Gazprom to discuss gas supplies
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Energy Minister of Bulgaria Rosen Hristov said that the government sent a request to Gazprom with a proposal to resume negotiations on gas supplies from Russia. According to Mr. Khristov, a response from the Russian company is expected in the coming days. Gazprom suspended gas supplies to the republic in April.
“We told them that we are ready to resume negotiations on the contract and that we have proposals for a number of amendments that would allow it to be optimized,” the Minister of Energy told TV channel Nova. He noted that the resumption of negotiations is “practically inevitable”, since the price of alternative gas supplies exceeds Gazprom’s proposal by 50%.
Bulgaria has a contract for the supply of Russian gas in the amount of 3 billion cubic meters. m per year. In 2022, the country has selected 1 billion cubic meters so far. m. Among the proposals of the government of the republic, as reported by Rozen Khristov, is the extension of the deadline for receiving the remaining volumes of gas – 2.4 billion cubic meters. The government proposes to extend the contract until the end of the heating season or until the summer of 2023. Mr. Hristov emphasized that no new contract is planned to be concluded.
The Minister of Energy also noted that he does not consider the purchase of Russian gas to be financing a special operation in Ukraine. “We still buy Russian gas – only through intermediaries and pay 30% on top. If we are talking about financing, Germany should first of all stop buying Russian gas. The leading European countries buy the same gas according to these rules,” Mr. Hristov said.
On April 27, Gazprom suspended gas supplies to the Bulgarian energy company Bulgargaz after failure pay for energy resources in rubles. Bulgaria then claimed that it would replace Russian gas with American LNG. In the summer, gas prices in the country rose strongly, in July the price per megawatt-hour was €95, and in August – €149. Now Bulgaria uses liquefied gas from the USA and Azerbaijan.
In July, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova announced Gazprom’s readiness to resume deliveries to the republic under the old contract if Bulgargaz paid in rubles. August 22 Rosen Hristov for the first time declared on the need for negotiations with Russian energy companies.
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