Bulgargaz has reported to SANS for expired clauses in the contract with the Azerbaijani supplier of blue fuel

Bulgargaz contacted SANS on December 21 for leaked information on some of the clauses of the contract with the Azerbaijani supplier. This is unacceptable. This is the first time such a thing has happened. For the last 10 years, no one has allowed himself to cite clauses in contracts, to obtain documents, "said the company's executive director Nikolay Pavlov on BTV. "We expect action to be taken on their competence," he said.

In response to a question "Who is behind the information", Pavlov said that these are "definitely exported on two lines: one is the Bulgarian Gas Association and the second line is via the Internet - various bloggers clauses in the contract, etc. It is absolutely inadmissible to comment on contracts and to misinterpret certain clauses, "Pavlov said. At the same time, when asked "What part of the contracts has been exported and what is being commented on?" He said that "we have no idea."

He expressed concern that this could have negative consequences for the company, as well as affect the implementation of the contract itself.

"The contract, which was signed in 2013, provides for a delivery point, or place of delivery - the Greek connection, ie the interconnector Bulgaria - Greece. It has not been built yet. It is the obligation of the supplier to deliver there, and ours - to receive it at this point. From then on, the other party has no obligation to deliver anywhere", explained the executive director of the gas company.

 "After they declared their readiness to deliver at the end of the year, their infrastructure has been built, they are ready to deliver, but we are not ready to accept. We have found ourselves in a situation in which, in addition to not being able to accept gas, we are subject to sanctions, "Nikolay Pavlov said, adding that negotiations had begun to redirect quantities through an alternative gas pipeline.

"After that, talks began to redirect the quantities to an alternative gas pipeline. At the moment, the entire quantity is not delivered, about a third, "said the executive director in response to a question from the host whether the entire quantity of 1 billion cubic meters of gas is delivered annually, as stipulated in the 2013 contract.

"These are new agreements that have nothing to do with the implementation of the main contract. Accordingly, annexes are signed for the delivery of these quantities on another route", he said.

He clarified that there is no signed annex for waiving the remaining quantities. "It simply came to our notice then. "Bulgargaz has not given up on quantities," he said emphatically. "We have been urging the Azeri supplier from the beginning to supply the full quantities, but I tell you again, they are supplying as much as they can and as much as they agree," he said.

 "We have signed an annex with which the deliveries are made on the neighboring gas pipeline, which is 300 kilometers away (from the other)," Pavlov said, adding that all Bulgargaz customers are 100 percent insured.

According to the executive director of Bulgargaz, the full volume will be available when the IGB pipeline is ready. He described as a "minor issue" the statement of energy experts that Bulgaria can still supply the full range of alternative routes. "They have no obligation to supply to another gas pipeline," Pavlov said, adding that it was of paramount importance whether they wanted to supply. According to him, the company was looking for delivery on alternative routes. "Since it was clear last year that the pipeline would not be ready, we followed all possible options. One was through Turkey, but at the moment we cannot enter through Turkey, because at the entrance through Strandja-Malkoclar the operators do not offer capacity, ie they have not signed an interconnection agreement and therefore we used the route that is through Greece, "he said. The executive director of the gas company rejected the accusations of the Bulgarian Gas Association for "suspicious actions and inactions that deepened the escalation of natural gas prices for Bulgarian consumers." According to him, this is not true and rather serves other people's private interests. He also explained the signal to SANS and pointed out that there was a sharp letter from the Azerbaijani supplier and said that information was requested on all steps to take action and "legal action against those who provided this information."

"All Bulgargaz customers are 100 percent insured," Pavlov said.

Nikolay Pavlov also commented on the opinion of energy expert Vasko Nachev, also expressed on BTV the day before, that Bulgargaz is withdrawing part of the gas from the gas storage in Chiren, which is going to the stock exchange, which is dangerous.

"This is supreme incompetence. Chiren is a tank in which anyone who wishes submits an application to the operator and receives a certain quota. We also participated, the operator distributed. We are currently withdrawing gas from Chiren, because since February, after we have submitted an application, the operator determines the schedule for injection, storage and extraction for each user. We withdraw quantities according to the schedule, "Pavlov said. He clarified that the company is also working on the Gas Release Program, with the remaining quantities going to the stock exchange. The quantities from Chiren are for equalization of the irregularities in the balance.

After there was a very serious increase in the international stock exchanges between December 10 and 23, the requested increase of 14% is normal, but it could be higher, said the executive director of Bulgargaz. The company's natural gas price is about 35 percent cheaper than on international exchanges, he concluded.