Gas price drop by more than 30% was discussed at energy regulator

30% lower gas price as of October due to the start of the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector. The proposal of public supplier Bulgargaz was discussed today, September 28, at a public meeting at the Energy and Water Regulatory Commision (EWRC).

Bulgargaz explained that their proposal for a significant reduction in the price of blue fuel next month is mainly due to the commissioning of the interconnector with Greece, through which Bulgaria will receive cheap Azeri supplies.

"I thank the EWRC for its efforts and the caretaker government to successfully launch the interconnector on October 1. It is also evident from the price we are declaring to be at the level of around 240 BGN," said Denitsa Zlateva, CEO of Bulgargaz.

EWRC Chairman, Ivan Ivanov, predicted that a permanently low price would be achieved for a longer period through supplies from Azerbaijan, the exchange and liquefied gas.

"I cannot but express my satisfaction that in October the trend of continuous price increases was broken and to note - 250 BGN per MWh was the threshold that Bulgarian industry and business in general announced that above this price they would like to be compensated. At least for natural gas for October, I hope the price will stay below BGN 250 and I hope this will continue in the coming months," said Ivan Ivanov, head of the energy regulator.

Denitsa Zlateva explained that “Bulgargaz” has announced four tenders for liquefied natural gas and one for piped gas, in which there is increased interest.

"The very fact that we have companies from across the spectrum - America, Europe, the Middle East, China, shows that this is the right approach. I hope that through these open, transparent, competitive procedures we can also get a good price for November. We have no worries that the necessary amount of natural gas will not be provided. What we aim for is a competitive price," said Denitsa Zlateva, Executive Director of Bulgargz.

The final decision on the natural gas price will be taken by the EWRC on 1 October at a closed meeting.