Bulgarian state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz has proposed higher wholesale natural gas price to be applied in May 2022.
The statement from the company said that the price for March should be around 76.7 euros/MWh, which is 5 % higher compared to the price approved for April – 72.9 euros/MWh, which was an increase of 25 % compared to March.
However, this is significantly lower than the increase of 38.6 % envisaged by Bulgargaz’ calculations in March. The company said that the proposal takes into account the provisions of Bulgargaz’ contracts with Russian Gazprom and the company supplying gas from Azerbaijan.
At the same time, Bulgargaz said that it expects that the wholesale price of natural gas will drop by 1 % to around 76 euros/MWh in June.
In March 2020, Bulgargaz and Gazprom Export have finalized an agreement on 40.3 % reduction of the price at which Russia supplies natural gas to Bulgaria, backdated to 5 August 2019. Bulgaria was the last of eight EU Member States of Eastern Europe to strike a deal on a price cut with Gazprom, in the wake of a settlement reached between the European Commission and the Russian monopolist on an anti-trust investigation.
The agreement with Gazprom prompted the change in determining regulated wholesale gas prices, which is now set on monthly, rather than quarterly basis.
