Changes to gas contract between Bulgaria and Türkiye’s BOTAŞ in the offing

Ways to improve the positions of the sides to the contract between Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz, Bulgartransgaz and Türkiye’s BOTAŞ will be discussed until 2 May. Agreement on this was reached in Baku, Azerbaijan, by Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov and his Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar who took part in the 11^th ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council.

Ministers Stankov and Bayraktar mandated their countries’ companies to make an in-depth analysis of the ways the contract can be made to work in the interest of both Bulgaria and Türkiye.

• Bulgargaz has not paid Turkish company BOTAŞ for the so-called reserved gas capacity since July
• Bulgargaz continues to negotiate changes to the contract with Turkey's BOTAŞ

After the talks between experts, the options for increasing the capacity of natural gas transfer at the Bulgarian-Turkish border is expected to be discussed at a political level.

• European Commission investigates the deal between Bulgargaz and the Turkish BOTAS
• Politico“: Bulgarian agreement with Botaş helps Russia regain grip on gas supply to Europe