CEO of Bulgarian public gas supplier Bulgargaz Lyudmil Yotsov said that it is still unclear whether the gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Greece will be put into operation in October, as initially announced.
Yotsov said that even if the interconnector is ready by 1 October, the State Oil Company of Azerbaiajn (SOCAR) said earlier that it will need additional time for double-checking, which means that they can decide to start delivering Azeri gas over the interconnector from 1 November.
During the hearing over the proposed wholesale gas price for August, KEVR Chairman Ivan Ivanov, who was reappointed after the Constitutional Court ruled that the appointment of Stanislav Todorov illegal, criticized Bulgargaz for failing to act to secure alternative gas supplies right after Gazprom cut off deliveries to Bulgaria in April and invite competitive bids for gas supplies for April and May.
Yotov replied that they did not take anticipatory action because they did not expect Gazprom to suspend supplies after Bulgaria had paid up duly according to the effective contract. As for the gas supply tender, it was announced on a Greek hub because Greece and Romania were the only alternative to the Russian gas at that time. He added that LNG supplies have been secured for September and was optimistic that the necessary quantities for October, November and December 2022 will be secured.
Last week, Bulgargaz has revised its proposal for the wholesale natural gas price to be applied in August 2022, by further increasing the price. The price for August should be around 152.3 euros/ MWh, which is 60 % higher compared to the price approved for July – 95.2 euros/MWh.
KEVR should announce the wholesale natural gas price for August on 12 August.
