Turkey will transit approximately 1.5 bcm of natural gas per year to Bulgaria, which will purchase and unload the raw material at five Turkish LNG regasification terminals (LNG) is will enter our country through the Turkish gas network. The agreement has a term of 13 years and was signed on January 3 in Sofia by the directors of “Bulgargaz” Denitsa Zlateva and the Turkish state energy company BOTASH (BOOTS) Burhan Yozcan in the presence of the energy ministers of the two countries, Rosen Hristov and Fatih Dönmez.
After initialling the document, which was announced as an agreement, but it was called by the contract of Christ and by Dönmez – protocolthe Turkish minister discussed with interim prime minister Galab Donev other possibilities for energy cooperation between Bulgaria and Turkey.
The deal opens welcome a new supply route to southeastern Europe after Russia cut off supplies to the continent following its invasion of Ukraine. Previously, Bulgaria’s shortest route to access liquefied natural gas passed through Greece, where buyers had to compete for docking slots under European Union rules, Bloomberg reported.
Turkey, which is outside the EU but connected to the EU by a gas pipeline, is not bound by these rules and has spare capacity.
As Western Europe scrambles to build new infrastructure to replace Russian gas, Turkey used less than half of the 21.9 million tonne capacity of its four LNG terminals last year, according to Bloomberg data. The fifth LNG plant is expected to go online at the end of this month.
“By signing this contract, Bulgargaz gains access to the BOTAS terminals and network. It is possible to purchase gas from all world producers and unload it wherever it is most convenient for us“Rosen Hristov said after the ceremony. He remembered about last year’s problems of “Bulgargaz” with the provision of LNG unloading slots at the Greek Revitusa terminal. “Now we are solving our problems, and this is important not only for the local and regional market, but also for the European one”He added.
In his words “this contract is symbolic and is the first step towards great energy cooperation between the two countries”.
“Today we signed a protocol that will develop cooperation in natural gas between the two countries and strengthen our relations”, said Fatih Dönmez in turn. According to him, this protocol is important for increasing the security of gas supply in the Balkan region. “The duration of this agreement is 13 years and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas will be transferred per year”observed the Turkish minister.
“There are five LNG terminals and seven lines with liquefied gas terminals in Turkey, and therefore we are putting another brick in the goal of Turkey becoming a serious partner in gas supplies”Deonmez also said.
Details of the terms of the agreement and the financial aspect of the acceptance and transit of the quantities of liquefied gas purchased from Bulgargaz, which will be unloaded in Turkey, were not disclosed. It is unclear whether the quantities are fixed and what happens if Bulgargaz accepts less than the agreed capacities.
Furthermore, according to official data, there are five LNG regasification plants in Turkey. Three of them belong to the BOTASH state – Ereglisi, Saros and Dyortjol. Two are private: Aliaga and Etki. It is unclear whether the Turkish minister is speaking in principle that the country has five terminals, or whether BOTAS will also have a commitment to supply capacity to private facilities.
Anyway, that’s it another route for the supply of gas to Bulgaria, in quantities sufficient for half of the country’s annual consumption, which in recent years was around 3 billion cubic meters, and in peak years reached 3.5 billion of cubic meters.
At the moment, our country receives 1 billion cubic meters annually from the Azerbaijani “Shah Deniz II” field, which enters Bulgaria through the Komotini-Stara Zagora interconnection with Greece. Separately, short-term quantities of liquefied gas are supplied at the Greek Revitusa terminal or imported by Greek traders via the Kulata-Sidirokastro link.
The directors of the companies (at both ends) said nothing about the agreement, protocol statements were only released by the two ministers, Mr. BGNES
Already before Christmas, Minister Rosen Hristov announced to the media that the agreement will be signed by the end of the year something like “complex service” by BOTAS for “Bulgargaz”. His parameters were also negotiated on rest days for Bulgaria, and this was noted by the two ministers at their signing on Tuesday.
At the time, however, Hristov was talking about 1 billion cubic meters of annual capacity. Now Dönmez has announced 1.5 billion cubic meters, but what made it necessary to increase him was not indicated in the statements of the two ministers. An opportunity for journalistic questions was not provided.
At the end of last year, Hristov said that with this agreement “Bulgargaz” will have great flexibility and the task will be only to bring the tanker to Turkish waters, and BOTASH will unload it wherever it is possible at the moment and then deliver the quantities through the its network to the Bulgarian border at the Strandzha-Malkochlar junction. It is part of the old Trans-Balkan pipeline, through which Russia supplied gas to Turkey through Bulgaria before the commissioning of the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline along the bottom of the Black Sea.
Hristov explained in recent days that “Bulgargaz” will conclude separate contracts with its preferred suppliers, but in the meantime the Turkish company was negotiating with BOTASH to include “Bulgargaz” in the negotiations already started with American suppliers, including “Shanir” and the like from Norway for ten years of supplies. “We expect to get the price that will be given to Turkey but offered to us. Kind of a general agreement like there should have been together with the EU. We are trying to do it regionally. We are also working with Romania will pool the quantity and will have a stronger negotiating position”said Rosen Hristov before Christmas.
Dönmez and Donev also discussed other joint opportunities in the energy sector. SM
In his conversation with Dönmez, Galab Donev called today’s signing of the agreement between Bulgargaz and BOTASH as a key moment in the development of the partnership between Bulgaria and Turkey, the government press service later announced.
According to Donev, the deal is historic because for the first time, Turkey has granted an external company access to its LNG terminals. At the same time, the agreement provides an opportunity to develop long-term cooperation in the interests of energy diversification. “Against the backdrop of the severe energy crisis, with united efforts we can achieve much more, both for Bulgaria and Turkey, and for Europe as a whole”the Bulgarian prime minister also notes.
According to him, there are a number of projects of common interest to the two countries that can be implemented in a short period of time, including cooperation in the construction and development of gas storage capacity, investment in RES and the increase in the capacity of the electricity transmission network, as well as on the transition to a carbon neutral economy, added the Cabinet.
Dönmez also met with President Rumen Radev. “I hope the relations between the two countries in the field of energy will accelerate as soon as possible”, he declared at the beginning of his conversation with the Bulgarian head of state. According to him, cooperation between Bulgaria and Turkey will be a good example for the countries of the region.
“Turkey, given its geographical location and the infrastructure it has, is ready to assist with the supply of sources from the Caspian Sea, Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean regions. There is also a need for new projects here so that these supplies can be more . and efficient. We are ready for cooperation with Bulgaria”said the Turkish minister.
Rumen Radev stressed the proposal of transit of additional quantities of Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, sent by Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the occasion of the official commissioning ceremony of the gas link between Bulgaria and Greece on October 1 last year. Radev once again noted that this is a project that will allow to increase supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe with minimal funds.“Turkey has an important role in implementing this project, which is extremely important for the EU”the head of state has now told Dönmez.
