Hristo Kazandzhiev before FACTS: It is very likely that with the extension of Chiren we will serve Gazprom

The European Prosecutor's Office searched the offices of "Bulgartransgaz" in connection with the project to expand the gas storage in Chiren. This was announced a few days ago at a briefing by the director of the company, Kiril Ravnachki. He added that due to the ongoing investigation, he cannot give more details, but the company is fully cooperating with the investigators. In FACTS, we wrote about the topic and showed the report to a number of Bulgarian institutions, which was submitted by experts as early as February 2024. Only now have Bulgarian institutions commented on the subject. What to expect… Energy expert Hristo Kazandzhiev, who is one of the senders of the signal, spoke to FAKTI.

- Mr. Kazandzhiev, the expansion of the gas storage facility in Chiren has raised many questions in recent days because the European prosecutor's office intervened. Will we eventually have an expansion. So let's start…
- A very difficult question, because the way the expansion of PGH Chiren was launched implies a very, very long period of work, but with unclear results… The whole Chiren expansion didn't go the way it was supposed to, it started the opposite way. It started with what is usually the last thing in the project implementation. In the expansion project and in the technological scheme for the development of PGH Chiren, it is foreseen what needs to be done. First, it was necessary to clarify the condition of the wells, their productivity, clarify the question of which wells are leaky and leak gas into the surrounding rocks, which are tight, and so on. And only then, after solving the problems related to this moment, which have been established with PGH Chiren, to proceed step by step. Another aspect is what extension are we talking about?

If we are talking about an expansion of the total volume, I am skeptical.

I firmly believe that increasing the total volume – if we talk about the capacity of PGH Chiren, that is, to increase from 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas to 1.5, to 1.6 billion is difficult to happen for purely technical and geological reasons. A third aspect of the expansion is to increase the possibility of extraction from the Chiren PGH. At the moment, the gas storage facility can provide, at maximum load, about 4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, which is not enough volume for Bulgaria. The amount should be 6, 7, 8, even up to 10 million cubic meters. Yes, it can happen someday, but when... It's just that the Chiren expansion project needs to be worked on systematically, not as sporadically as it is now.

- You filed a report with many institutions in February, and only now did things get institutionalized in Bulgaria. Because the European Prosecutor's Office intervened. How do you explain this?
- I explain it to myself with the very fact that things are too complicated. I explain it, of course, with the reluctance to solve the problems on a principled basis, as well as the desire to use the money in this project as quickly as possible and with little effort.

- There is also European money in the project and we see that Europe is watching. So it doesn't come very easy…
- Europe observes and, unfortunately, reacts only to someone. Yes, it still responded, albeit late, thanks to our signal. If this signal had not been given, it is unlikely that Europe would have been interested. The fact is that the matter being discussed is very complex for lawyers, prosecutors, etc. to understand. what it's really about. Experts like us should show intolerance to such abuses and report. We did that. And only then, when the competent authorities are alerted, do they react. Unfortunately, in Bulgaria this is happening slowly and with difficulty. At the moment when the signal was given, only one Bulgarian MP - Radostin Vassilev - asked a question to the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev. The question was specific and the answer was funny. The minister said that “… we (b.r. - clearly refers to the ministry) do not have the competence to carry out an inspection and have forwarded the matter to the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH)”. So even in the presence of a signal, too few institutions in our country would react adequately. The report on the case of the State Financial Supervision Agency of the Ministry of Finance will be published soon. And this answer is ridiculous, because it says that during an inspection of the case, no irregularities were found in the general work and organization of the public procurement. The answer just doesn't match our question. We do not comment anywhere on the conduct of the public procurement. You just see for yourself what kind of omerta the Bulgarian society is facing.

- A few days ago, the executive director of “Bulgartransgaz“ Kiril Ravnachki said that all activities related to Chiren are suspended until the investigation is completed. What do you expect next?
- I expect a new public procurement to be made, and this one to be terminated. It's just that nothing up to this point related to what was planned in the public procurement has been done. Drilling projects have not even been approved. After all, we are talking about a complex drilling, which requires a lot of time and a lot of technological experience. We must not forget that the deadline for completing the public procurement is the end of this year. Too little time to do any serious work related to drilling these wells.

- You have already mentioned, but we also heard this from the state institutions, from the financial inspection, that no violations were found during the implementation of the public procurement…
- Yes, it is, but we do not comment on how the public procurement was organized and conducted, we have no objection to that. The question is how this public procurement is implemented, because what is laid down as technical requirements does not meet the implementation and conditions under which the procurement was announced. It's just that the two things should not be confused. The financial inspection does not essentially check the implementation, but how the public procurement was actually organized and conducted. We have nothing to do with this thing.

- We went through a gas crisis, given the war in Ukraine. In this sense, how will the expansion of Chiren contribute to Bulgaria's advantage?
- If we talk about gas storage, what will contribute if the volume increases is that we have a longer supply assurance period. You see, the role of PGH Chiren is no longer so great due to the fact that Bulgaria implemented interconnection with Turkey and Greece. We have a liquefied natural gas terminal near Alexandroupolis, which has been put into operation and has greatly eased the situation in Bulgaria. On the other hand, the expansion of Chiren will greatly ease and support gas transit and the operations of “Gazprom” in Southeast Europe. At the moment, what is probably being planned is to give volume in Chiren for the use of “Gazprom”. One of the projects that is being implemented at the moment and has already been de facto implemented is the connection of the Chiren LNG plant with “Turkish Stream”, which supplies Russian gas to Serbia, Hungary and Austria. The direct connection of Chiren with this gas pipeline gives reason to assume that in the near future, after we expand the capacity, a significant part of it will be provided to “Gazprom” for its operations on the territory of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. So it is very likely that with the extension of Chiren we will serve “Gazprom“.