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with the new composition of the board of 4.97 bcm – just above the 4.90bn delivered
Bulgargaz left without directors, but also made efforts to delete in 2019.
the archive of the board of directors, which
Romgaz, 70% controlled by the
money, new management contains information about the decisions Romanian state, has a capitalisation of
taken by the former management for the
RON14.6bn (€2.9bn). Since the beginning of
says period from 2015 to the day of its dismissal,” 2021, its shares have decreased by 2.5%, amid
transactions of RON46mn.
Bulgargaz said in the statement.
State-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz was left It added that these actions have put the The company announced in October
almost without any cash and will struggle to normal operations of the company at risk. 2021 that it had completed negotiations with
find enough money to pay for gas supplies Petkov has said that the hike in the ExxonMobil Corporations and Production
from Gazprom and Azerbaijan for February, natural gas price in Bulgaria since the Romania to take over the 50% stake in the
the company’s new management said in a beginning of the year was to a large extent Neptun Deep deep perimeter in the Black
statement. due to the decisions of Bulgargaz’s former Sea, becoming a partner with OMV Petrom
On January 28, the whole management management. in the largest offshore energy project local.
of Bulgargaz was fired by Bulgarian Energy The difference between prices of the
Holding (BEH), which manages the state- natural gas sold by Azerbaijan and Bulgaria’s
owned energy companies, over its decisions main supplier Gazprom is “so huge that Construction of gas
related to the purchase of additional amounts giving up [any] amounts with any excuse,
of cheaper natural gas from Azerbaijan. which then turns out to be invalid, damages interconnection between
At the time, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov Bulgargaz and consumers”, Petkov has said.
said that the management was dismissed Bulgarian Energy Minister Aleksandar Serbia and Bulgaria under
after the authorities found out 1bn cubic Nikolov accused Bulgargaz earlier in January
metres of gas could have been imported from of failing to import 1 bcm of natural gas discussion
Azerbaijan even though Bulgaria’s gas link from Azerbaijan at a lower price than the
with Greece has not been completed yet. gas it buys from Russia’s Gazprom. Nikolov On February 8, Deputy Prime Minister of the
The new board of Bulgargaz said it even suggested that by amending contracts Republic of Serbia and Minister of Mining and
has found out that the company has just with Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company Energy Zorana Mihajlovic talked with Bul-
BGN640,000 (€327,230) and has drawn out (AGSC), Bulgargaz had made imports from garian Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov
BGN51.73mn in overdrafts from several Azerbaijan impossible. Instead, Bulgargas about building a gas interconnection between
banks. At the same time, it should pay was importing more expensive natural gas Serbia and Bulgaria, more regional connec-
around BGN650mn for gas supplies from from Gazprom. tions and intensifying cooperation between
Gazprom and Azerbaijan in February and According to the contract between the two countries in the field of energy.
the expected revenue for the month is Bulgargaz and AGSC, the Greece-Bulgaria At a bilateral meeting held as part of Bul-
around BGN400mn. gas link is one of the ways to deliver gas from garian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov’s visit to
The management should urgently find Azerbaijan. The completion of the gas link Belgrade, Mihajlovic stressed that the con-
BGN250mn to cover the payments for has been delayed, but Nikolov claims that struction of the Serbia-Bulgaria gas intercon-
February to the gas suppliers and the state Bulgargaz was still able to import the full nector is very important for Serbia, expressing
budget. amount agreed with AGSC. confidence that the project will be completed
“For the new management of Bulgargaz on schedule, the Serbian government said in
[the financial situation of the company was a statement.
a surprise], because from statements of its Romgaz reports it produced The construction of this gas pipeline, as she
former director Nikolai Pavlov they had the pointed out, will contribute to the diversifica-
impression that it is in excellent financial 11.2% more gas in 2021 tion of directions and suppliers of natural gas,
condition and is a prosperous company and thus greater energy security, not only for
without problems on the gas market and with Total hydrocarbon production of Romanian Serbia, but also for the entire region.
its suppliers thanks to the old management,” state-controlled natural gas company Nikolov reiterated that the Serbia-Bulgaria
the statement reads. Romgaz rose by 11.2% year on year to gas interconnector will contribute to greater
It added that Bulgargaz seems to have had 32.5mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in energy security in the region, adding that the
financial troubles since October 2021. 2021 and the volume of gas from domestic Southern Gas Corridor, with which this pipe-
The new management of Bulgargaz production delivered to the market increased line will be connected, along with gas from
has launched a probe into all deals on gas even more (by 12.7% y/y) to 4.97bn cubic the LNG terminal, will be very important for
bourses made in December, as it has found metres, the company announced. diversifying gas supplies.
out that the former management concluded In contrast, the amount of electricity
deals that had caused financial damages generated dropped by 32% y/y to 640
worth around BGN1.6mn. GWh, which is still more than the 590 GWh Estonia seeks to expand EU
The former management has also produced in 2019.
destroyed documents for its decisions upon The company’s hydrocarbon production sanctions on Belarusian oil
leaving the company. It has also urgently (mainly natural gas) still lags behind the
dismissed all key employees, providing 2019 level, when it reported 34.07mn boe of products
them with financial compensation worth a total production.
combined BGN170,000. Romgaz has, however, managed to Estonia plans to impose unilateral
“‎The suspended management not only increase its deliveries from domestic sanctions and call on the European
impeded and sabotaged normal continuity production slightly more, by 12.7% y/y to Union to expand its own penalties against

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