Negotiations between the state-owned companies of Bulgaria and Turkey - "Bulgartransgaz", "Bulgargaz" and "Botas" will continue until May 2 to improve the situation our country has found itself in. This is what the energy ministers of the two countries Zhecho Stankov and Alparslan Bayraktar agreed on during a forum in Baku, BNT reports.
Negotiations between "Botas" and "Bulgargaz" have been going on for more than a year. The reason Sofia wants renegotiation is that at the moment, supplies via our southern neighbor are unprofitable for our country. Before the negotiations began, a special committee was even created in parliament to clarify the situation. Its chairman was the current Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov.
The work of the commission ended with a report, which stated that in fact "Bulgargaz" and "Bulgartransgaz" will not have access to the Turkish gas system, as previously claimed. In fact, the Bulgarian side will be able to receive the quantities of natural gas from Turkey in exchange for being delivered to Turkish terminals. For 2023, only 10% of the possible capacity was used, but we have paid for the full capacity.
The agreement between "Bulgargaz" and "Botaş" is for 13 years until 2035. It cannot be terminated by the Bulgarian side ahead of schedule, unless we pay the entire amount under the contract, namely 2.2 billion. dollars.
In April last year, the Bulgarian Socialist Party sent the report from the special committee on "Botas" to the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the European Commission. However, after an investigation by Brussels, it was found that there was no evidence of violations.
Following the talks between experts from the state-owned gas companies, it is expected that the possibilities for increasing the capacity for natural gas transmission on the Bulgarian-Turkish border will be considered at the political level, as became clear during the meeting between the two ministers today.