Russia Shilly-Shally over Gas Price for Bulgaria - Minister

Bulgaria's contracts for gas delivery with Russia expire 2011-2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Representatives of Russia' s giant Gazprom have sent mixed signals during talks with a delegation of Bulgarian experts, who want to eliminate the notorious intermediaries in the purchase of natural gas from Russia and cut its price.

“They show understanding, but give no indications that the intermediaries will be skipped,” Bulgaria's Energy and Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said on Friday, a day after the negotiations were launched in Moscow.

In the words of Minister Traikov the negotiations are calm and there are no “dramas”.

“In this sense I can say that I am neither happy nor unhappy,” he said.

The analysis of how the gas price is formed, which was initiated namely by Minister Traikov, is expected to be conducted next week.

The meeting in Moscow came days after the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov to Sofia, during which he expressed astonishment at high gas prices in Bulgaria and vowed to ensure lower sale prices of Russian gas in the nearest future.

The meeting also made clear that Bulgaria does not view Russian energy projects as unfavorably as was previously apparent, with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov expressing commitment to the South Stream gas pipeline, among other joint projects.

Bulgaria's contracts for gas delivery with Russia expire 2011-2012. Shedding intermediaries has been a long-time ambition of Bulgaria, but in April it was announced that negotiations with Gazprom have marked little progress.

Bulgarian officials say the gas price can by cut by one third, should Bulgaria succeed in changing the way it is calculated.

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