Botas decides to offer contract amendment options to Bulgargaz

The Turkish company Botas has decided to give some proposals regarding the renegotiation of its 13-year contract with Bulgarian gas supplier Bulgargaz. This happened during the negotiations held in Sofia on August 15, as announced by the Bulgarian Interim Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov in his answer to a question from the MP Dimitar Naydenov (PP-DB).

The parliamentary questioning was about information that came out that the Turkish company had refused to review the terms of the gas supply contract. The claim was made by Aura Sabadus, senior energy expert at London-based analyst firm ICIS, who cited a letter that was part of correspondence between the two companies in the negotiation process.

Sabadus' scoop was also confirmed by Malinov.

At the negotiations in Sofia

Botas have presented their proposals for a solution with the aim of reducing the financial burden of Bulgargaz EAD as a result of the written agreement", the document says.

Malinov explains that at a work meeting at the beginning of August in Ankara, the Bulgarian side presented an argument for the renegotiation of the deal with the aim of propping up the financial stability of Bulgargaz. For its part, Botas asked for some time - two weeks to be exact - to prepare its proposals for the Bulgarian demands, observing the principle of benefits from the renegotiation for both parties.

Now the Bulgarian gas supplier has to submit a report to the country’s Ministry of Energy including specific proposals for taking follow-up actions in the negotiation process with the relevant analysis and assessment of their impact on the company's financial situation.

Since July, Bulgargaz no longer has the means to pay Botas, having failed to pay that month’s invoice for 15 million US dollars. There will be another one coming, probably of the same value, towards the end of August.

From the start of the contract (2023) until its end in 2035, Bulgargaz has to pay Botas nearly 500,000 dollars per day. The amount that has to be paid for the gas supply for the entire 13-year period totals 2 billion euros.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov