2024-05-14 02:03:13
- The renegotiation of access to the Turkish gas network with the state company Botash will not be easy, I am moderately optimistic
- Bulgaria is currently negotiating with Azerbaijan to increase the supply of natural gas through Turkey as well, not only through Greece
There is a serious potential for an increase in the price of electricity from July 1, this is what the Acting Minister of Energy, Vladimir Malinov, said for “The Day Begins with Georgi Ljubenov” on BNT.
According to him, the liberalization of the price of electricity will take place from January 1, 2026. In order to maintain affordability, a compensatory mechanism will be defined. The accumulated deficit is serious – over BGN 450 million. In the next regulatory period, this deficit must be met.
The minister talked about his international shuttle – about his meeting with the ambassador of South Korea in our country Be Jengin, about the conversation with his Turkish colleague Bayraktar, about his participation in the delegation of President Rumen Radev to Azerbaijan.
The renegotiation of access to the Turkish gas network with the state company “Botash” will not be easy, Malinov explained. He himself was moderately optimistic about the renegotiation.
“I am learned, so every decision of the National Assembly must be implemented. There is a decision to renegotiate the contract with Botash. I immediately held a meeting with the Turkish Minister of Energy and stated our firm position. It will not be easy to renegotiate the contract, because Turkey has achieved an economic benefit from it, but we have the understanding that the contract was signed in a different economic environment,” explained Malinov.
The National Assembly obliged the Ministry of Energy at the end of April to renegotiate the contract with “Botash”, which is for 13 years and stipulates that Bulgaria will pay more than 2.2 billion dollars under it. According to the contract, our country is obliged to pay 500,000 dollars each day for access and transmission of gas through the Turkish gas system, regardless of whether it transfers quantities or not.
The main argument of the interim government of Galab Donev for the contract to be concluded is that at that time Bulgaria did not have enough alternative routes for the supply of blue fuel.
According to the contract, our country can receive liquefied gas at the terminals of Turkey, while “Botash” delivers the same quantities to the border from its natural gas.
Malinov also announced that Bulgaria is currently negotiating with Azerbaijan to increase the supply of natural gas to Bulgaria and through Turkey, not only through Greece. At the moment, about 35% of the blue fuel in our country comes precisely from the Caspian Sea via Greece, the so-called “Southern Gas Corridor”.
“There are also additional quantities that the state oil and gas company Sokar sells on the free gas market and they enter through Turkey,” explained Malinov.
The official energy minister had such talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku.
“We have discussed a long-term agreement for Sokar and Turkey to sign for an additional opportunity to transfer additional quantities of gas from the Caspian region. And we expect these quantities through our gas transmission network to reach the markets of Central and Eastern Europe and increase the volume of quantities for Sokar to sell on the Bulgarian market,” explained Malinov.
Another topic was the exploration for gas in the Black Sea from Azerbaijan.
“Geological surveys and 3D seismic surveys in the entire water area show that there is a possibility of hydrocarbon extraction in the sea. Next week we will start a concession procedure for one of the blocks of the Khan Tervel field, and one of the companies showing interest is Sokar. said Malinov.
The minister said that Bulgaria is also negotiating with South Korea for joint supplies of natural gas to both countries. For this purpose, during the week the minister met with the ambassador of the Asian country in Sofia.
“Major natural gas producers prefer to work with long-term contracts and large volumes, so it is much easier to negotiate when we are two countries. South Korea is among the countries that are the largest importers of liquefied natural gas.” explained Malinov.
It is a Korean company that is expected to build the new units of the Kozloduy NPP.