Azerbaijan suspends gas supplies to Bulgaria for technical reasons - Bulgargaz

BAKU. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan temporarily suspended gas deliveries to Bulgaria for technical reasons as of January 7, Bulgarian gas distributor Bulgargaz EAD reported on its website on Thursday.

Notification of the suspension of supplies under the long-term contract with Azerbaijan was received on January 6. Supplies are expected to be restored on January 11, the company said.

Bulgargaz said the suspension did not lead to additional expenses on acquiring replacement gas and did not affect the natural gas market in the region.

Such situations again demonstrate the need to diversify supply sources and routes, not only to achieve competitive terms and prices, but also to ensure the reliability of supplies in the event of technical problems, the company said.

Bulgaria has a long-term contract with Azerbaijan for 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year. However, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said earlier that his country's gas deliveries to Bulgaria would total 1.5 bcm in 2024, which amounts to about half of the country's gas consumption. Bulgaria received 1.25 bcm of gas from Azerbaijan in 2023.

Azerbaijan has gas supply contracts with ten European countries, including Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia and North Macedonia. It has long-term contracts with fixed supply volumes with three countries - Italy, Greece and Bulgaria - and contracts without specific volumes with the others.