The contract with „Botas“ the main goal of this contract was the supply of non-Russian gas to Bulgaria and Central and Eastern Europe. Only „Botas“ was an option - both then and now. This was announced in an interview for the program „Face to Face“ by the former caretaker energy minister Rosen Hristov.
On January 3, 2023, the caretaker government appointed by President Rumen Radev with Prime Minister Galab Donev concluded a contract with the Turkish gas company „Botas“. The agreement was signed by the then director of „Bulgargaz“ Denitsa Zlateva and the director of „Botas“ Burhan Özcan.
The agreement is for access to the terminals for the regasification of liquefied natural gas and its subsequent transfer to Bulgaria for the period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2035 – a whole 13 years.
The agreement obliges our country to pay Turkey about $ 500,000 a day as a fee for this access and transfer through the Turkish infrastructure. The fee is due regardless of whether we supply natural gas or not.
„Bulgarian politicians from all parties declared that Bulgaria must be absolutely independent of Russian energy sources. The EC and EP declared the same – with road maps and declarations“, recalled Hristov.
According to him, the payment under the contract is for the unloading of 14 tankers per year and all accompanying services for regasification, transit, storage and flexible supply, and it is not true that there are no deliveries under this agreement.
“In parallel with the contract with “Botas“ we signed an agreement “String“ which provided for Bulgaria to export significant quantities of gas to Central and Eastern Europe. The goal was to supply all of Europe with non-Russian gas. The memorandum was signed in Bulgaria, but the next government stopped working on it, and the concept of not allowing non-Russian gas to enter Bulgaria was also stopped“, the former energy minister added.
Hristov confirmed that currently only Russian gas is entering Bulgaria.
“But it enters through private companies, and “Bulgargaz“ is still prohibited from importing Russian gas – it is placed in a disadvantageous market position. This is the reason “Bulgargaz“ is in a bad financial condition”, he further commented.
“If they had set me the task of finding the cheapest gas, and not non-Russian gas, I would have done like the Romanians – to sign a contract with “Botas“ again &ndquo; Romania directly ordered 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkey. They don't care where it comes from, they buy it from Turkey. We buy infrastructure, why, because the idea was to bring a tanker with guaranteed non-Russian origin“, the former energy minister specified.
He believes that the contract with “Botas“ can be renegotiated.
“In energy, all contracts are long-term and all have clauses that they cannot be renegotiated, but half of them are renegotiated. Before that, however, we need to decide in the long term what we want – do we want Russian gas or not. We can negotiate Russian gas directly. Turkey will most likely agree, because it is a major economic and well-intentioned partner of Bulgaria“, explained Hristov.