Gas supplies to Bulgaria sparked fierce political skirmishes and a defamation case

Gas supplies to Bulgaria became a topic of fierce political skirmishes between GERB and "We Continue the Change".

GERB accused the government of Kiril Petkov (“We Continue the Change”) of buying gas from Gazprom through subsidiaries of the gas company until the last day it was in power. According to GERB, the public was harmed by nearly 28%. The party demanded an answer from "We Continue the Change" why they bought Russian gas at a price of 110 euros instead of 86 euros.

Shortly after GERB's statements, the co-chair of "We Continue the Change" Kiril Petkov announced that he would sue Boyko Borissov for defamation, with a claim for half a million leva (BGN). He said this immediately after submitting documents to Sofia District Court.

Meanwhile, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova called on the parties to accept a freeze on the price of household gas.

At a briefing on August 24, GERB recalled that the price of Gazprom for Bulgaria in July was 86 euros. Instead, Bulgaria bought from a Romanian subsidiary, which is a 100% subsidiary of Gazprom Switzerland, at a price of 110 euros. They also drew up a diagram of how this was done. They suspected that the profits were going to 'We Continue the Change'.

"How much goes there, we don't know, so I'll put question marks on the scheme here. But from Gazprom Switzerland, probably some money goes offshore. Why do we think so - because I don't have any other explanation why instead of buying from Gazprom directly at 86 euros, you would buy from the Romanian Gazprom at 110 euros," said Delyan Dobrev of GERB.

A little later, after the briefing and GERB's accusations, Kiril Petkov filed a defamation claim in court. He repeated that they had negotiated a price for the liquefied gas from the American tankers at a price 30 dollars lower than the European one.

"This man has already been sentenced for defamation, a proven liar. I'm tired of this type of lies being told from morning till night in the media. The lies that I accuse him of, for all the middlemen, the commissions that he talks about. We have to stop these types of old liars with their thuggish ways from changing the main topic of the day," Petkov said after filing the defamation claim in court.

Boyko Borissov urged “Democratic Bulgaria” not to invite people to protests against Gazprom, but to invite parties to sign for gas diversification.

"The answer is monosyllabic, for Gazprom - yes - 100% diversification. Send us to put our signature or tell us where to come to sign," Borissov said.

Meanwhile, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova made another proposal to the parties. In a Facebook post she wrote that while others are blaming the gas supply instead of giving a solution, people are worried about rising prices.

That is why she asked three questions - are the other parties ready to freeze the price of gas for household consumers, to help businesses, and are they ready for a social assistance programme for the energy poor and an increase in incomes.