Bulgaria’s Balkan Stream Earns 286 Million Euros Profit in 2025, Says Energy Minister

The "Balkan Stream" gas pipeline generated a profit of 560 million leva, or 286 million euros, in 2025, Energy Minister Traycho Traykov announced. Reported total revenues for the year reached 570 million leva, equivalent to 291 million euros.

Minister Traykov explained that the revenue stems from two sources. Bulgartransgaz EAD earns 497 million leva (254 million euros) through binding 20-year capacity reservation contracts awarded via the Orange Season procedure under European legal standards. An additional 73 million leva (37 million euros) comes from offered free capacity at interconnection points. Expenses for the year amounted to 9.8 million leva (5 million euros), covering costs such as materials, security, electricity, personnel, social contributions, insurance, local taxes, and fees for compressor stations Rasovo, Nova Provadia, and the Strandzha gas metering station. Traykov noted that while the expenses are presented as a separate project, they are integrated into the overall gas transmission network.

For context, revenues from the Balkan Stream in 2022 totaled 375.88 million leva, with operating and financial costs of 113.95 million leva, resulting in an operating profit of 261.93 million leva. In 2021, the pipeline’s operating profit stood at 83.57 million leva, with total expenses of 129.23 million leva, which included material and personnel costs, external services, social security contributions, other financial expenses, and accumulated depreciation of 75.03 million leva.

Bulgartransgaz operates the extension of the Turkish Stream in Bulgaria, forming part of the envisioned European gas distribution hub, the "Balkan" concept. The company’s earnings from this infrastructure come from both long-term binding contracts and offered free capacity at interconnection points. The pipeline infrastructure has a projected lifespan of over 35 years, remaining in use well beyond the contract periods.

The Turkish Stream itself connects Russia to Turkey’s European coast under the Black Sea via two pipes, each with 15.75 billion cubic meters of capacity. One pipe supplies Turkey directly, while the second supplies European countries and the Western Balkans. In Europe, the pipeline enters Bulgaria, from where gas flows onward to Serbia and Hungary. The Bulgarian segment is referred to as the "Balkan Stream."