Nikolov: Supplies from Azerbaijan may reduce gas price in Bulgaria by 11%

On October 1, the entire volume of Azerbaijani gas for Bulgaria should be at the agreed price, which means that prices for gas consumers should drop significantly, former Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Alexander Nikolov told BNT TV, Report informs.

According to him, the technological implementation and construction part of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which transports Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe and then to Bulgaria, has been completed and certified by the Greek regulator:

"If we take the current market conditions, it will be about 11%."

Nikolov said that it was possible to provide 80-85% of the required amount of gas by the end of winter, including supply and cargo ships from Azerbaijan.

IGB provides for the transportation of Shah Deniz 2 gas to Bulgaria. The state company Bulgargaz EAD signed a contract with the Shah Deniz consortium to supply 1 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field. Azerbaijani natural gas will meet 25-30% of Bulgaria's needs.

150 kilometers of the pipeline, with a total length of 182 kilometers, run through Bulgaria. The pipeline's annual capacity is expected to be 3-5 billion cubic meters.