Minister of Energy: All supplies of natural gas from Gazprom are fulfilled in full

All deliveries of natural gas from Gazpromexport are executed in full volume. Payments to Gazprom as of March have been successfully made and Bulgargas is not in any breach, Energy Minister, Alexander Nikolov, told a briefing on March 4.

He denied that there was a deal for two-fold lower price per megawatt-hour. His response to GERB's allegation that a day after the war in Ukraine started, a deal for more than 4,000 megawatt-hours at half the price was made on the gas exchange. On the specific date, Bulgargaz had not concluded a deal, Nikolov said. According to former energy minister Delyan Dobrev, the deal was made on February 24.

He described as "outright lies" media publications and accusations of the opposition about prices and queues at petrol stations.

The quantities that were purchased at the petrol stations were more than four times the average, the minister said, adding that fuel was available everywhere. No petrol station chain had stopped working.

In order to curb any risks, Bulgarian Energy Holding as well as the government through the Ministry of Energy have taken preventive measures to ensure security of supply. Since mid-February, production from the Chiren storage facility has been limited to a minimum or suspended whenever possible. Additional measures are included in an order from the energy minister, Nikolov said.

The quantities available to Bulgargaz have been allocated to ensure the current maximum technical gas production for March and April, which means that the production season has been extended by another month. In the event of Gazprom suspending deliveries, this will at least allow the systematic companies and mandatory deliveries to be met, the energy minister said.

"Bulgargaz has asked major liquefied gas traders operating in the region to provide an offer for delivery of volumes in March in case of a suspension of supplies by Gazprom. At the moment, the offers received do not meet Bulgargaz' requirements in terms of price, so that there is no further increase in the price for domestic consumers. Because of this, the lowest offers from existing other partners have been accepted.

"Bulgargaz will continue to look for alternative suppliers in case of a deterioration of the geostrategic situation.

Nikolov assured that there is no sale of gas, there is purchase.

images by Dessislava Kulelieva

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