Bulgaria raises matter of additional gas supplies from Azerbaijan under existing contract - Bulgarian energy ministry
BAKU. May 8 (Interfax) - Bulgaria has raised the question of importing additional natural gas from Azerbaijan to compensate for the volumes not delivered when the supply contract with Azerbaijan first came into effect, Traycho Traykov, who acted as the Bulgarian Minister of Energy until a new government was formed today, said.
"A question has been raised regarding the full use of the volumes of natural gas which were not used at the beginning of the validity period of the contract with Azerbaijan, which could be supplied to our country additional to the regular volumes for some of the lowest prices in Europe," Traykov is quoted as saying by the Ministry of Energy, as he commented on the work of the energy sector over the last two months.
Traykov said that this step was directly related to an improvement in the pricing structure and a reduction in energy costs for enterprises and households.
"The given measure will increase the competitiveness of industry and create the conditions to lower the regulated gas price in the country," the statement reads.
Traykov also said that Bulgaria was speeding up the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor project, which is envisaged as a route for transporting up to 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year and joining together Southern and Central Europe.
He said that Bulgaria had presented a national plan for the diversification of the natural gas supply to the European Commission. It prepared this plan in accordance with a new EU regulation on the gradual termination of Russian gas imports.
The ministry said that Traykov had transferred his ministerial powers to his successor, Iva Petrova, after concluding his work.
As reported, Bulgaria has a long-term gas supply contract with Azerbaijan for a volume of 1 bcm per year.
Azerbaijan began exporting gas to Europe - to Italy, Greece and Bulgaria - on December 31, 2020 via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. However, due to the absence of an interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria, the volumes of Azerbaijani gas exports to Bulgaria were several times less than planned - 250-300 million cubic meters per year instead of 1 bcm.
After the interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria (IGB) was commissioned on July 8, 2022, Azerbaijan was able to begin supplying the full volume of natural gas to Bulgaria - 1 bcm per year. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, Azerbaijan exported 1.65 bcm of gas to Bulgaria in 2025.
The IGC gas pipeline has an overall length of 182 kilometers, with a diameter of 813 millimeters. Its current capacity of 3 bcm per year could be increased to 5 bcm in future.
