Bulgarian Prime Minister Cyril Petkov commented on the investigation launched last week by the country’s special services in relation to the largest Bulgarian gas distribution company Bulgargaz, which pledged 1 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan per year from the Shahjeniz field.
According to HaqQin.az, with reference to the portal Euraactive.com, Petkov Prime Minister stated that “there are suspicions that the company made a number of violations.”
The site writes that in recent days the government has strengthened the pressure on “Bulgargas”, because he suspects the company in damage to the interests of Bulgarian gas consumers. “There are suspicions that the company buys cheap Azerbaijani gas and exports him to neighboring Italy and Romania, and more expensive Russian gas sells inside the country. As a result, consumers are suffering,” the portal writes.
Recall, “Bulgargaz” can not receive the entire volume of gas under the contract of 2013 (1 billion cubic meters) from Azerbaijan, since the IGB gas pipeline, which should transport this gas from Greece to Bulgaria, is not yet ready, the construction of a gas pipeline for incomprehensible The reasons are delayed for 12 years. And this is in the interests of Gazprom – a monopolist in the Bulgarian gas market. “Bulgargaz” can reverse about a third of Azerbaijani gas in the Romanian-Bulgarian gas pipeline, which is under the control of Gazprom.
Employees of the State Agency of National Security and the Main Police Department last week began investigating these and other suspicious moments in the Bulgargas office.
Earlier, the General Director of Bulgargaz Nikolai Pavlov wrote a letter to the State National Security Agency with a request to investigate the leakage of confidential information from the agreement signed with Azerbaijan. The leakage of this information in the interests of Gazprom and caused the indignation of the Azerbaijani side.
MP from the ruling coalition Martin Dimitrov said Eurantiv that the Bulgarian special services should also investigate why the construction of the IGB gas pipeline was delayed for 12 years. He also called on the European Commission to intervene in this question, since the construction of the gas pipeline is partially funded by the European Commission.