Bulgaria negotiates more than 20% lower price for Russian gas

The new contract with Gazprom for gas supply to the country will be for a period of ten years and at prices which are 20% lower than before, became clear at the signing of the contract on Thursday. The document was signed by Deputy Chairman of Gazpromexport Alexander Medvedev and Executive Director of Bulgargaz Dimitar Gogov. The final investment decision on the South Stream gas pipeline, however, will be signed by Alexei Miller, Gazprom's Chairman, and Mihail Andonov, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Energy Holding. The ceremony at the Council of Ministers was attended by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delian Dobrev.

During the negotiations, a more than 20% decrease in the price of natural gas for the country was achieved, i.e. a discount of another 9-10% of the 11% reduction agreed for the period April-December this year. The contract's term is 10 years, but in the sixth year, Bulgaria will have the right to renegotiate both the price and quantity of supply, depending on local production. The contract states that the annual gas supplies to Bulgaria will be 2.9 billion cubic metres, since the commercial clause "take or pay" refers to 80% of the volume (versus 90% in the previous contract).

Energy Minister Delian Dobrev said that the exact price of gas for Bulgaria is a "trade secret", but it is one of the lowest, although slightly higher than that for Germany. According to Prime Minister Borissov, the achieved price is the lowest possible for a country which does not invest in the facilities. In this regard, Alexei Miller explained that Gazprom has a number of joint energy projects with Germany from which it also has revenues, therefore the price of gas there is lower.

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