Bulgarian state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz has proposed higher wholesale natural gas price to be applied in March 2022, thus revising its previous proposition for 1.7 % wholesale gas price cut.
The statement from the company said that the price for March should be around 58.1 euros/MWh, which is 3.5 % higher compared to the price approved for February – 56.2 euros/MWh, which was a decrease of 17.6 % compared to January.
Bulgargaz has delayed its price proposal to the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) as much as possible in order to make accurate estimates of the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on gas supplies to businesses and households in Bulgaria.
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.
