Bulgaria is not likely to sign a new long term contract with Gazprom

“Bulgaria will not sign a new long term contract with Russian Gazprom for natural gas supplies if its stipulations are not favourable for our country,” said Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Marii Kossev, who attended a roundtable on the development of the gas sector in the country yesterday. He explained that, first of all, our country must analyse the options for the supply of natural gas via interconnecting links. According to him, given the variety of sources of natural gas, a long-term gas contract with Gazprom will not be needed.

The deadline for the signing of a new long-term contract is the end of June. “The Government intends to have Gazprom Export as a sole gas provider and to suspend the other two companies - Overgas and Wintershall as intermediaries. We do not need to stick to the schedule for the signing of a new contract with Gazprom," said Kossev.

He said that it is possible for a short-term contract to be signed which would be in force until the gas interconnecting links with Greece, Romania and Serbia are built. The Bulgarian Energy Holding is planning for the first links to be ready as early as 2012. Recently, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov explained that the pipeline to Greece will be completed by the end of 2014. Negotiations are underway for the construction of the gas connection to Turkey, which, according to experts, should be a priority. “There are many steps which should be taken under the draft road maps of the projects but the entire process cannot be predicted precisely,” explained Kossev.

“If we do not have an option for alternative gas supplies, we will have to sign a contract with the Russians, even an unfavourable one. But we must consider when this short-term contract should expire -  by the time the connections are built or when the construction of the Nabucco pipeline is completed,” explained Kossev. He denied all rumours that the negotiations for gas supplies are related to the construction of the Belene NPP.

Прочети цялата новина

Свързани новини: