Bulgarian parliament adopted a resolution assigning the Minister of Energy to take action for re-negotiating an agreement between Bulgarian state-owed natural gas supplier Bulgargaz and Turkish energy company BOTAS signed on January 3, 2023.
Under the resolution, all documents at the disposal of an Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry into the Bulgargaz-BOTAS deal will be made available to the Bulgarian prosecution service, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the State Agency for National Security, the Energy Ministry, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), and the Bulgarian Energy Holding.
Critics of the deal argue that, under the take-or-pay agreement, the Bulgarian company undertook to pay nearly USD 500,000 daily to the Turkish supplier for reserving 1.850 billion cu m capacity on regasification terminals in Turkiye for natural gas provided by Bulgargaz and its delivery to the Bulgarian border. For the 15-plus months during which the agreement has been in effect, Bulgargaz has delivered less than 250 million cu m of gas under it but was obliged to pay some USD 250 million for the reserved capacity despite using a tiny fraction of it, the critics claim.
