The contract with "Botas" is without alternative if you want to supply non-Russian gas. This was stated in the studio of "The Day Begins" by former energy minister Rosen Hristov.
"It is neither unprofitable nor unprofitable. It is profitable and profitable and usable in the configuration that was 2022, where they told us explicitly - "you must supply non-Russian gas". That is, there were protests in front of the ministry, "Boets" there they stood there sleeping in front for three months, 1 million statements by all politicians and from the National Assembly and in all the media, shirts were torn, how we should not finance the war with Ukraine, every gas we buy from Russia goes to the money on the front against Ukraine and after all, we will die, but we will not buy Russian gas. The only option to bring sufficient quantities of non-Russian gas is through Turkey, because through Greece it is impossible - a single terminal. We do not buy gas from Turkey, we simply bought access to their terminals so that we could import gas from any producer who guarantees that it is not Russian. We are talking about liquefied gas. This was ensured", said Rosen Hristov.
According to him, he did not sign the contract, but the then director of "Bulgargaz" Denitsa Zlateva.
"The contract was not signed by me, the state does not sign commercial contracts, neither an official government, nor regularly, it is not engaged in commercial activity. It was signed by commercial companies in accordance with the due process. The contract was signed by Denitsa Zlateva in her capacity as executive director, after a number of negotiations were held, most of which I was present at. The contract was signed publicly. Signed by her, in my presence, in the presence of the Minister of Energy of Turkey, the deputies knew very well about the contract, because we had a meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly at the time, the Turkish minister, me."
The former Minister of Energy is categorical that although economically unprofitable, the contract was the only alternative geopolitically against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and calls for pressure on Russia.
"What is happening now - no one wants to buy non-Russian gas because it was more expensive. Well, you knew that back then too. I said that then. There was a big meeting with business representatives who said that we cannot pay over 200 leva per megawatt hour and it is better to close. Then I said - "if you want such a price, when the exchange is over 300 leva, we must definitely negotiate with Russia. And then everyone jumped in - Russophile, captain of "Gazprom", all sorts of insults - that's it, he wants to return Russian gas and they almost signed a declaration to publicly lynch me. We provided a route for the supply of non-Russian gas, from now on they explain - but it's much cheaper than Greece to supply Russian gas."
"We provided the political support for "Botaş" to enter into negotiations at all, because "Botaş" was forbidden from negotiating at all for access to their infrastructure. We managed to convince them."
When asked why the contract was signed for 13 years, and not, for example, for 5 years, Hristov replied:
"Because in parallel with this contract "Bulgargaz" should have held a long-term tender for the supply of non-Russian gas for the same period.
BNT: Did you?
- No. Because after our government left, all initiatives in this direction were stopped.
BNT: Why for 13 years?
- The energy sector functions regardless of the cabinet. The best prices for gas are obtained for 10-year periods. We responded to the demands of the National Assembly and all leading parties."
The former energy minister emphasized that all the gas entering Bulgaria, except for Azerbaijani, is currently Russian.
"We do not import liquefied gas by ship, and piped gas is entirely Russian."