site.bta“Perfect Contract” Puts Bulgaria in a Bind over BOTAS LNG Deal, Borissov Says

Bulgaria's controversial contract with Turkiye's BOTAS was on the agenda of a meeting Wednesday of GERB leader Boyko Borissov and the visiting Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Borissov told reporters in Parliament Thursday. "We need to seek solutions. This isn't easy because contracts have been duly signed - they are good at that - and such contracts are hard to undo," he said. It was unclear who "they" are. 

He also said that the issue and possible ways to go about it are being discussed with Turkiye at every opportunity but "there is no result because they have a perfect contract and if things stay like this, the matter will reach court".

In early 2023, Bulgaria’s state-owned Bulgargaz signed a 13‑year take‑or‑pay deal with Turkiye’s BOTAS , reserving up to 1.85 billion cu m/year of LNG capacity via the Strandzha–Malkoçlar interconnection. The deal was finalized during the tenure of the caretaker government led by Prime Minister Galab Donev, who was appointed by President Rumen Radev - himself a strong proponent of the contract with Botas. Under the contract, Bulgaria pays over EUR 500,000 a day (or nearly BGN 1 million/day), regardless of the actual usage. Energy Minister Stankov said in April that Bulgaria is paying for capacity it cannot use and that only 1.3 billion cu m can realistically be transported, leaving  a lot unused but still paid for. This has resulted in Bulgaria running into a debt approximating BGN 300 million as of early May 2025. Parliament has launched an inquiry and tasked the energy minister with renegotiation, forwarding findings to domestic and EU prosecutors over potential misconduct or corruption. 

The information about Borissov's meeting with the Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister came from a Facebook post by Borissov and BOTAS wasn't mentioned there. It said that the two countries have "excellent bilateral partnership and good-neighbourly relations, and both countries’ constructive cooperation in the area of transport and connectivity is just one example of that". He noted that both countries prioritize the development of new joint projects and initiatives aimed at increasing the capacity for south-north transport of passengers and cargo between the two countries.