Bulgaria Fails to Pay Botash Under Bulgargaz Contract – Fakti.bg News

Bulgaria does not pay under the contract of “Bulgargaz” with “Botash“.

This is what former Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov told BNR and explained:

“Before the election, many people are racing to say how much money we pay per day under this contract. These invoices are not even accounted for. In 2024, a former minister confirmed that Bulgargaz has not been paying since then. Like any problem, it is swept under the carpet and left as a bomb to explode in the hands of the next ones and a savior will appear again to guarantee stability”.

According to him the contract with “Botash” in its current structure cannot work:

“I do not exclude a scenario to be renegotiated without making mock meetings or mock speeches, as they have been doing in the last few years. Turkey has done a lot for us as a partner to help us balance the energy system, because in earlier periods and as a result of the war in Ukraine, Bulgaria was in a very difficult situation. … “.

According to Nikolov the question is whether “Bulgargaz” allows itself to sell natural gas at a loss in order to satisfy the current demands of the managers to artificially maintain the price far below the levels that they have ensured with their competence or incompetence:

“That is, the price at which it enters the market is below the cost of acquiring the resource”.

The extremely low trust in institutions, not only in KEVR, is the reason for the lack of complaints about electricity bills, the former energy minister believes:

“For this reason, people prefer to ask questions on social media and use the official media so that the necessary tension and control can be created and the relevant managers or regulators can be taken into their hands.”

According to him, the checks that KEVR commissioned in this part are logical and well-founded:

“I guess they will show that there is certainly no distortion in the ‘price’ part.”

Bulgaria is currently one of the largest importers of electricity per capita in the EU, Nikolov emphasized.

The 7th and 8th units of the Kozloduy NPP are a real prospect for 10 years from now, he believes.

“The energy sector is deliberately kept in the dark, because if it gets light, quite unpleasant things will shine,” commented the former Minister of Energy.