Rumen Ovcharov: The pressure on Bulgargaz is for the intermediaries to enter

The new management of Bulgargaz sold 60,000 MWh through the Bulgarian stock exchange for Romania, and the realization of the deals was every 30 seconds. This means one second of Bulgaria's daily consumption. And this is provided that it is clear that there will be no extra quantities. This was said in the morning block of BTV on Saturday by the former Minister of Energy Rumen Ovcharov, recalling the previous accusations of such a sale, made by the old management of the gas company. "Notice how it happened - it was sold on stacks and the time between offering and realizing the deal is less than 3 seconds," he said.

What the government criticized Bulgargaz is now doing the same, but on a larger scale, he said. Earlier, he rejected the thesis that the change of management of Bulgargaz is for the protection of the public interest. He also questioned the government's actions regarding the moratorium.

"If it turns out that the amount was pumped by Chiren, given that we are waiting for war to start tomorrow, it is already bordering on a crime," he said. According to him, this is a prepared sale for certain companies.

Earlier, he rejected the thesis that the change of management of Bulgargaz is for the protection of the public interest. Without rejecting hopes for the new government, it also questioned the government's actions regarding the moratorium. "I am worried because his first actions were related to obvious incompetence and disregard for expert opinions and secondly to the influence of corporate interests.  "Then I meant the moratorium and the protection of some electricity producers from photovoltaics," said the former energy minister.

"Just remember how the Minister of Energy announced that day that you see so far Bulgargaz should have become the owner of the construction company in connection with Greece. But he has no contract with this company. Well, then to the ICGB, to the project company, but its contract expired a month ago, if sanctions should have been imposed, you should have imposed them, "Ovcharov said. He was adamant that "This is not the way to talk. This is not how politics is done. That's not how energy is made." In this regard, he added that the proposal to reduce the price of gas by 18% belongs to the old leadership, not the new one.

Rumen Ovcharov was adamant that nothing has changed, and the pressure on the natural gas market, and in particular on Bulgargaz, is to open the market to other sellers.

"That is the goal," Ovcharov said when asked if it was a question of returning intermediaries to the gas market. "That was the goal of those discussions in the mall," Ovcharov said. "Even at the cabinet meetings, the minister explained to us how there should be more flexibility and diversity, "Even then, I told him that this means more instability and insecurity," he said.

According to Rumen Ovcharov, in this situation in which the world finds itself, we need not flexibility, but stable supplies. According to him, if these traders or intermediaries want, they can enter the gas market now, but the problem is that "they cannot supply gas at a price lower than that of natural gas. That's why they want a piece," Ovcharov said.

The former energy minister explained that he has known Nikolay Pavlov since 2013, when he was fired as economic director at NEK due to the refusal of Tsvetan Vassilev's insurance company to enter the energy sector. "Without being his defender, I want to say that the latest talk about the Azeri deal is a big bubble," he added.

Bulgaria has a contract under which it must receive 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year. We receive less - about 300 million. In the last two years we have not provided a contact point where these quantities should be received. We are in complete non-fulfillment of our contractual obligations. And a hero comes and says, "We don't get bigger quantities." Azeris are not angels of charity, they are traders and they want to make money, Ovcharov said. He reminded that the Azerbaijani gas consortium includes some of the largest companies. He reminded that the Minister is currently in Azerbaijan. "As a better negotiator, let's see what he will return with," said the former energy minister.

Rumen Ovcharov also commented on the expectation of renegotiation with Gazprom. According to him, the current contract with the Russian company "is certainly not ideal, but it guarantees us supplies, warmth, competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy."

"In this situation, this is not a dangerous game, but a harmful one," Ovcharov said.

"I am ready to help everyone," said the former energy minister, but was adamant that this is not the way to manage the energy industry in this volatile situation”, he was adamant.

Rumen Ovcharov was also clear regarding the statements to the EWRC that nothing will happen, especially because of "the attempts of law enforcement agencies to make experts."

In this sense, he recalled that the prosecutor's office, after five years, finally dropped the case against him for Belene because of such attempts.