site.btaMRF Chair Peevski Commends BOTAS Deal Freeze

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Chair Delyan Peevski expressed satisfaction with the information about the freezing of the contract with BOTAS for 15 months, achieved at a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, as stated in a position distributed by the party's press centre on Tuesday.

"We share the stated reason for freezing the contract, namely that Bulgaria and Turkiye have a common interest in using the maximum capacity for natural gas transmission and will work on renegotiating the contract between the two companies under current market conditions," the position stated.

"This gesture from the Turkish side is an example of good neighborly relations, which are particularly important for us, as Turkiye is a key strategic partner for Bulgaria," Peevski also points out, quoted in the position.

The BOTAS-Bulgargaz agreement was signed on January 3, 2023. Under the contract, the Bulgarian side booked capacity of 106.4GWh/day on the Turkish LNG regasification terminals and agreed to pay for this BGN 1 million (EUR 512,000) daily for a period ending in 2035. At present, Bulgargaz does not import gas under the agreement with BOTAS, and in early May its arrears to the Turkish company approximated BGN 300 million. If the 13-year take-or-pay agreement is rescinded, the Bulgarian company will be liable for close to BGN 3 billion in damages. By a resolution passed on April 19, 2024, the Bulgarian National Assembly assigned then-energy minister Vladimir Malinov to take action for re-negotiating the agreement.