War is raging against the Bulgarian government’s energy policy, Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said today in an emergency press conference to deny allegations that the new management of the state-owned Bulgargaz sold 60,000 MWh of gas to Romania under a previous agreement.
He stated that it was not about one but about 18 agreements and their total volume of natural gas amounts to 37,600 and not 60,000 MWh. The agreements were not concluded in seconds, he said, meaning that they were already concluded agreements.
“Especially at this time and in this international situation, during our meeting in Baku and just before the start of negotiations with Gazprom Export on the renegotiation of the terms of long-term contracts and the supply of new quantities, I consider such allegations and “Statements by former energy ministers, deputy prime ministers and other politicians are nothing less than a coordinated attack on Bulgarian national interests,” Nikolov said.
Attacks on Bulgargaz’s new management come from former Energy Minister Rumen Ovtsarov, who drew public attention to Friday’s sales and said the new administration was acting just like the old one, which was replaced to pursue corporate profits at the expense of of public interest.
The Minister of Energy stated that Bulgargaz has an obligation to maintain a natural gas balance and that the sale of natural gas on the open market should come as no surprise. “Bulgargaz has an obligation to manage surpluses and surpluses are created during periods of milder weather when household consumption is declining.”
With his statements he hinted that in this case the surplus amounted to 14% of the planned consumption of the day.
He also said that the new management of Bulgargaz took office on Friday.
What was really achieved by Friday’s deals was “the best price” and Bulgargaz had a profit of BGN 1.5 million, he added.
The minister spoke of a “liquidity gap of BGN 200 million” in Bulgargaz as future payment obligations exceed BGN 650 million.
However, all its contractual obligations will be met, he added.
He was adamant that without Friday’s deals, the 14% surplus would have cost the company losses of 12.5 leva per MWh.
Source: Capital
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