“Yuraktiv”: “Bulgargaz” has informed SANS about Saturday from Bulgaria on Azerbaijani gas – World
The state-owned company Bulgargaz informed the National Security Agency (SANS) before the holidays that Bulgaria’s competing interests were trying to sabotage natural gas imports from Azerbaijan. This is done by compromising the public agreement with Baku from 2013 for the import of 1 billion cubic meters per year.
In addition, we are trying to block the supply of new sources of gas consumption in the country, these risk destabilizing Bulgargaz, leading to the loss of tens of millions of dollars of bank guarantee and – in case you manage to liquidate the company – switch of gas imports in other hands.
This is the solid Brussels edition today EURACTIV, referring to the letter to SANS from December 21, which the authors Georgi Gotev and Kalina Angelova say they saw.
When asked by Bulgargaz if there is an answer from the service, they were told on Monday that they do not have it yet, but expect development on the issue.
The letter states that the company fears the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information about contracts with Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company Limited (AGSC). It is a company registered in 2002 in the Cayman Islands with the central part of the capital of Azerbaijan by the partners in Shah Deniz PSA and the state representing its giant SOCAR. The company was established for the sole purpose of selling gas from the Shah Deniz gas fields in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and European countries, contact the Southern Gas Corridor.
Disclosure of trade secrets, according to Bulgargaz, allows Azerbaijan to terminate the contract with the company, and this was the first real alternative to Russian gas imports. The Bulgarian carrier would also lose a bank guarantee of 73m euros. dollars if competitors manage to create the contract, around EURACTIV.
According to the authors, Bulgargaz’s letter states that the alleged sabotage involved the Bulgarian Gas Association – association, has only a Facebook account, but no website, which reveals details of the contracts, which may result in heavy financial damage to the state company. They were described as “persons outside the government”, quoting confidential information from the agreement on blogs and in lobbying.
The BGA management includes former managers of Bulgargaz from the period before 2015. Among the founders are the new Deputy Minister of Energy Iva Petrova and the new Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov, former Deputy Minister in the Ministry during his tenure. works for the businesswoman Tsvetelina Borislavova, former partner of the former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. A project for a gas power plant with a capacity of 1 gigawatt has been registered with her name “, Gotev and Angelova write.
They were quoted by Martin Vladimirov of the Center for the Study of Democracy, who said that “obviously, the construction of such a large and economically unnecessary power plant is rather an attempt to create a larger natural gas market that serves specific private commercial interests.” In the absence of diversification of sources, this would mean a sharp increase in Bulgaria’s dependence on Russian gas.
Vladimirov Azerbaijan, part of the Bulgarian state, is not trying to have an active dialogue to update the long-term agreement or to protect Bulgargaz’s interests, but there are attempts to remove the company’s management. Gazprom, which would bring new players to the domestic market in Bulgaria, benefited the most from such a development.