After his visit to the United States, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov confirmed that Bulgaria will receive two shiploads of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in June. In late-April, Russia decided to halt gas supply to the country.
PM Petkov said that two shiploads of LNG gas from the US in June were agreed, at a price slightly below the Gazprom level. He did not specify the price agreed but insisted that it would be far below the current market levels.
He revealed that negotiations on a long-term contract are in progress. The price margin will probably be narrower for the two ships, but I hope that it will be a double-digit percentage in the long -term contract, he said, adding that the entire quantity will be far cheaper and that the quantities had been agreed specifically for Bulgaria. He stressed that the contract will be signed directly between the US company and Bulgaria, without intermediaries. The US gas will reach Bulgaria probably from Greece or Turkey.
Bulgaria is also in talks with Azerbaijan to increase gas deliveries and is looking to agree on LNG deals via terminals in Greece and Turkey. It has also called for common EU gas purchases to make prices more competitive.
He also confirmed that the construction work on the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnection (IGB pipeline), which will carry gas from LNG terminals and Azeri pipelines to Bulgaria, will be completed by the end of June on both sides and it should become operational in July.
