Bulgaria to Import Gas from Europe as of 2014 "Bulgaria will be able to import natural gas from European suppliers in 2014," Bulgaria's deputy minister of economy and energy, Evgenia Haritonova stated. "This will become possible after the construction of the inter-connection system between Bulgaria and Serbia. The construction of the gas pipeline will be launched this year and in 2014 it is expected to start functioning. With the realization of the inter-connection system Bulgaria will have access to the gas deposits in Hungary and to European gas suppliers," Mrs Haritonova explained. Mrs Haritonova also added that the inter-connector with Serbia would unite the gas markets of the two countries and would develop the Bulgarian one. At the same time Bulgaria will finalize the construction of the interconnector with Greece which will give Bulgaria access to the Caspian and Mediterranean gas market. "The construction of the gas pipeline to Serbia will be a serious economic contribution to the neighboring regions, which are among the poorest in Bulgaria. These regions will start attracting foreign investments," Mrs Haritonova stated further.
Source: Standart (04.01.2013)

Bulgaria Launches Nabucco Pipeline Construction in June 2013 By the end of June 2013 Bulgaria will start the construction of the Nabucco pipeline on its territory, Bulgaria PM Boyko Borissov stated during the first sitting of the cabinet on the project in 2013. "As a rotation chair of the project Bulgaria insists on clear-cut terms," PM Borissov stated. "By the end of June 2013, all construction licences will be issued," Bulgaria's minister of economy and energy, Delyan Dobrev, stated.
Source: Standart (11.01.2013)

Nabucco Pipeline Route Finalized June 2013 The Shah-Deniz-2 Consortium is expected to decide on the exact route of the Nabucco pipeline in European territory by the end of June 2013, Bulgarian Energy Holding President Mihail Andonov said. The agreement between Nabucco International and the potential investors – shareholders in Shah-Deniz-2, is to be signed on January 18th. If the companies in the consortium Shah-Deniz-2 choose Nabucco, as of 2018 Bulgaria will be receiving two billion cubic meters of Azeri natural gas per year through the gas link with Turkey.
Source: Standart (14.01.2013)

Sofia and Athens Become Gas Export Competitors In the near future Sofia and Athens may become competitors in the export of Caspian natural gas to Europe. This emerged after the end of Gas perspectives: First regional gas conference, held yesterday at Sofia's Sheraton Hotel Balkan. Greece is planning to receive natural gas from a number of sources in Cyprus and Azerbaijan, as well as from liquefied gas terminals, and export it to Europe, using the interconnection with Bulgaria. This became clear from a statement of Dimitrios Manolis, International Projects Monitoring Director at DEPA S.A. However, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz is also eyeing opportunities to export natural gas to Europe, judging by the statement of its CEO, Mr. Dimitar Gogov. He linked the company's future to an expansion on the European markets. "We are in negotiations with Shah Deniz 2 for the maximum capacity share of ten billion cubic meters of natural gas 2019," Gogov said.
Source: Standart (06.02.2013)

Bulgartransgaz SPJSC begins construction of a pipeline from Dobrich of Silistra. Symbolic start of the construction will be given today at 11:00 am at the site earmarked for the automatic gas regulation station Silistra, near the village Kalipetrovo, Silistra district. The pipeline will has a length of 80 km., diameter 350 mm. and the capacity to transport 100,000 m3/hr. The project is funded by the International Fund Kozloduy by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the amount of EUR 9.21 mln and co-financed by Bulgartransgaz in amount of EUR 3.07 mln. The pipeline will be built by the end of 2013. It will enable the gasification of municipalities along the pipeline route: Dobrich, Tervel, Dulovo, Alfatar, Silistra.
Source: Standart (05.03.2013)

Nabucco pipeline consortium signs cooperation memo with TANAP The Nabucco consortium competing to build a pipeline to bring Azeri gas to Europe said on Monday it had signed a cooperation deal with Turkey's Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). Nabucco said the two parties had agreed to exchange technical and other strategic information to support the development of their projects, which will connect at the Turkish-Bulgarian border if the Nabucco project is chosen. Nabucco is competing with the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) to carry natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II gas field to half a billion potential consumers in Europe, reducing Europe's dependence on Russian gas. TANAP will bring the gas from Azerbaijan to the European edge of Turkey, to connect with either Nabucco or TAP. The operators of the Shah Deniz field - BP, Statoil , Azeri state energy firm SOCAR, Total and others - have an equity option on both rival projects. They have said they will choose one by June. The chosen project will bring billions of dollars of investment to the countries through which the pipeline will travel - Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in the case of Nabucco West, and Greece, Albania and Italy if TAP is chosen. The Nabucco consortium's other members are Austria's OMV , Hungary's MOL Turkey's Botas, Bulgaria's BEH and Romania's Transgaz. TAP's members are Switzerland's AXPO Holding, Statoil and Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas.
Source: Standart (05.03.2013)

Bulgaria’s RMS Vratzata assets put up for sale for $9.0 mln Assets of Bulgarian engineering company RMS Vratzata were put up for sale for $9.0 million (7.0 million euro), a sale notice indicated. The assets put up for sale include manufacturing equipment, office buildings, manufacturing halls, storage premises, outbuildings and land, according to a notice published on the businessesforsale.com website. The assets cover a total of 16 000 square metres. RMS Vratzata Ltd specialises in the production of equipment and spare parts for the chemical, petro-chemical, metallurgy and food and beverage industries. It was established in 1965 and at present employs 100 people. The company's factory is located in northwestern Bulgaria, near the town of Vratsa.
Source: investor.bg (02.04.2013)

Bulgaria's energy holding co rejects single bid for 250 mln euro loan The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) said it turned down a bid by Deutsche Bank, the single candidate to extend a 250 million euro loan to the company, after it failed to meet the tender requirements. Deutsche Bank was disqualified because it failed to submit a document certifying it had paid the required guarantee, BEH said in a statement on its website last week. The tender procedure was canceled. BEH plans to borrow the money to refinance a credit taken out by one of its units, the National Electricity Company. Another option to raise the money which the holding company is contemplating is a bond issue. It has received six offers for an advisor to the planned issue. BEH (www.bgenh.bg) incorporates assets of Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant Kozloduy, gas monopoly Bulgargaz, gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz, telecommunications operator Bulgartel, the National Electricity Company and its wholly-owned system operator Electricity System Operator, coal-fired power plant Maritsa East 2 and the Maritsa East coal mines.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.04.2013)

Bulgarian energy holding has uncollected debts from its subsidiaries to the amount of over BGN 437 million. This is evident from the company report for the first quarter of the year. Among the largest debtors are as follows: National Electricity Company (NEC) and Bulgargaz. Due to shrunk revenues, profit of the holding is by BGN 1.5 million smaller, as compared to the same period last year. BEH is composed of the following companies: TPP Maritsa iztok 2, Mines Maritsa Iztok, Bulgartel, Bulgartransgaz and Nuclear Power Plant Kozloduy.
Source: Trud (14.05.2013)

The Corporate Commercial Bank, the Central Cooperative Bank, Investbank, UBB, UniCredit Bulbank, Raiffeisenbank are the financial institutions managing funds of state companies, 24 Chasa daily reveals. Standart daily specifies that the number of these banks is 11 and adds the names of Postbank, First Investment Bank, D Commercial Bank, CIBank and Bulgarian-American Credit Bank. Some 41 of state companies have deposited too much of their money into only one bank, research by Bulgarian ministries revealed. Some 59.44% of money of NEC, 96% of money of Bulgartransgaz, 88.20% of BEH and 90.85% of deposits of Bulgargaz are managed by the Corporate Commercial Bank. Five companies related to the Ministry of Economy have large deposits in the Central Cooperative Bank. 42.54% of the money of Kozloduy NPP is deposited in Investbank. Money of BDZ Passenger Services is managed by UBB and Eurobank, money of BDZ Freight Railway Services is managed by the Corporate Commercial Bank, 61% of the money of Bulgarian Posts is managed by UniCredit Bulbank, while 91.95% of the money of Bulgarian Port Infrastructure Company is managed by the Central Corporate Bank.
Source: Standart (23.05.2013)

Bulgaria to Transit 45% of Russian Gas to Europe About 40-45 percent of the entire gas volume that Russia exports to Europe will be transited via Bulgaria, experts comment. This will be a fact after the South Stream pipeline is completed a starts working to capacity. Then Bulgaria will be transiting additional 63 billion cubic meters a year of Russian gas replenishing the volumes currently exported to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia, the customers of Gazprom. Apart from regular transit fees that Gazprom will start paying to Bulgaria in 2015 when the South Strem is set in operation Bulgaria will gain a very advantageous geopoplitical position on the Balkans and in Europe. This will be a benefit for Bulgaria during the negotiations with the other countries on the political and diplomatic level, experts believe. The purely economic benefits are not to be underestimated either. The economic effect of the South stream will be evident already by the end of 2013, when the construction works will be started on the Bulgarian territory.
Source: Standart (13.06.2013)

European Commission Opens Proceedings against Bulgarian Energy Holding The European Commission announced it has opened formal proceedings against Bulgarian Energy Holding and its subsidiaries Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz for an alleged hindering of competition. The European Commission will investigate whether Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), its gas supply subsidiary Bulgargaz and its gas infrastructure subsidiary Bulgartransgaz might be hindering competitors from accessing key gas infrastructures in Bulgaria, in breach of EU antitrust rules. An opening of proceedings does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. The Commission has concerns that the Bulgarian energy incumbent BEH and its subsidiaries may be abusing their dominant market position on the natural gas markets in Bulgaria, in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). In particular, the Commission has concerns that these companies may be preventing potential competitors from accessing the Bulgarian gas transmission network and the gas storage facility by explicitly or tacitly refusing or delaying access to third parties. In addition, these companies may be preventing competitors from accessing the main gas import pipeline by reserving capacity that is consistently not used, without releasing it on the market. “Without access to this key infrastructure, it is impossible for any companies to compete with Bulgargaz on the Bulgarian gas supply markets,” the commission said in an official statement. It points out that such practices, if established, restrict competition and may lead to less choice and worse gas supply conditions, ultimately to the harm of EU consumers.
Source: Dnevnik (08.07.2013)

South Stream construction to employ 6,000 ''Overall, the South Stream project will create 6,000 jobs in Bulgaria. The construction itself will employ 2,500, and the rest will add up from the workers of the supply and service units'', South Stream Bulgaria CEO Georgi Gegov informed. According to the documentation of the project, at least 16 specifications will be sought in relation to the construction of the Bulgarian part of the pipeline. When it comes to the operation, the South Stream will continuously employ 200 Bulgarians at the 3 compressor stations located in Bulgaria: KS Varna, KS Lozenets and KS Rasovo. In total, there will be 8 compressor stations in Europe. There was a public consultation on the topic in Varna, the 25th of its kind in a row in the country. The main emphasis was the assessment of the environmental impact / EIA / of the South Stream, which passed in a heated discussion. The debate was opened by Ivan Portnih, the new mayor of the city. The project company, true to the principle of hearing all the parties, insisted on dialogue with the people, who were impatient with their questions. The constructors reassured the public that the noise of the compressor station near Varna, where the 4 gas pipes will pass, will not exceed the norms.
Source: Standart (17.07.2013)

Gas connection with Romania starting from next year Gas connection between Bulgaria and Romania will start early next year and by the end of 2014 - the Bulgarian section of the route with Turkey. That said the boss of "Bulgartransgas" Kiril Temelkov on a hearing at the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (regulator). In his words, placing a gas connection with Romania will be delayed by six months because during construction were found many archaeological sites - tomb and artifacts from the Middle Ages. So instead of the initial deadline for entry into commercial operation of the pipe - the end of June this year, it will start in early 2014. Temelkov explained that section of the pipeline on Bulgarian territory is built entirely in ongoing trials on the track. We are currently working on the drilling of the Danube and up to November this process will be completed. The minimum bandwidth in Romania is 0.5 billion cubic meters per year, the maximum - 1.5 billion cubic meters per year, added BTA. He explained that the company has deposited in the regulator mechanism by which to allocate capacity and congestion of the pipe will be announced and procedures under the rules for use of the network. On reverse the gas connection with Greece Temelkov commented that it does not develop from "Bulgartransgas" rather than design company registered BEH and the Greek company "Poseidon." The project is on schedule and is conducted EIA flow and procedures for approval of the route of the pipeline itself. The pipeline is expected to be ready in early 2015. "Even before the date of the relationship of Bulgarian transmission system in Turkey, after it became clear that the project" Nabucco West "will not be implemented in our territory," commented Temelkov. He noted that the financing of this project, our country will be able to rely on EU funding under the EC Regulation on Trans-European infrastructure. Besides the relationship with Turkey, the country is defending three more such projects - the expansion of gas storage in UGS, expansion and rehabilitation of the transmission network in the country and build a permanent reverse gas flow with Greece on the existing network.
Source: Monitor (01.08.2013)

Bulgarian state-owned gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz expects domestic production of natural gas to increase nearly 5-fold in 10 years. Kiril Temelkov, CEO of Bulgartransgaz EAD, presented Tuesday to members of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) a 10-year plan for the development of the gas transmission grid. The plan cites forecasts about a several-fold increase in local production of natural gas. While domestic gas production in 2013 is expected to amount to around 250 million cubic meters, the output is to reach up to 1300 million cubic meters in 2015 and up to 1520 million cubic meters in 2025. "Our expectations are based on the plans submitted by gas production companies. It is also of crucial importance how exploration activities in the Black Sea will proceed, but we have not yet made a final forecast about the gas quantities which could be extracted there. The forecast includes the anticipated output from the Galata and Kaliakra gas fields, which are already functioning, as well as the Deventsi gas field, where commercial gas production is to start soon," he explained. "The entire 10-year period is fully adapted to the regional plans made on an EU-level," Temelkov emphasized. The CEO of Bulgartransgaz also noted that Bulgaria's gas consumption was expected to increase. He informed that gas consumption in Bulgaria was likely to have doubled by 2022 under an optimistic scenario. Temelkov said that the gas transmission operator expected enhanced investment activity aimed at gas supply diversification over the next few years. He commented that securing gas supply diversification opportunities and achieving a competitive environment on the gas market would result in a decrease in gas prices. He added, however, that if gas prices headed upwards on a global scale, Bulgaria would be unable to reduce local gas prices through diversification. Temelkov made clear that the main portion of investments had been earmarked for the first five years of the 10-year period. "In the 10-year plan, we plan the construction of the gas grid interconnection with Turkey, whose system has 6 entry points from different directions. We also plan to build a gas grid interconnection between Bulgaria and Greece," he said. The CEO of Bulgartransgaz pointed out that the company was working on an entry-exit transmission tariff which would be fully implemented by end-2013. He underscored that the new pricing model would not introduce substantial changes to transmission fees. Temelkov said that Bulgaria's energy watchdog had reviewed the application of Bulgartransgaz for the company to be certified as an independent gas transmission operator at a Tuesday sitting. "This is yet another guarantee that we are providing a competitive gas market," he concluded.
Source: Sega (14.08.2013)

Bulgartransgas plans to increase domestic gas consumption to 30% by 2020 With only 2.6% of all users, household natural gas consumption in Bulgaria is lagging behind the EU average of 30%. Therefore, Bulgartransgas is planning to develop its transmission network via active investments in order to reach the 30% European average of domestic natural gas use by 2020, the company announced in its 10 years plan which it presented to the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission. This is the first document by the company that provides clarity and transparency about the long-term transmission network development plans of the company. The plan foresees grand investments in the first 5 years. By the end of this year, the pipeline Silistra Region pipeline and the inter-collector link Ruse-Giurgiu will be both completed. Internal pipelines to Pirdop, to Svishtov and between Simitli Bansko are also in their feasibility study phase. Their construction is to be paid from the next year's budget and and funding is sought from the Kozloduy International Fund.
Source: Standart (14.08.2013)

Bulgaria-Turkey Gas Grid Interconnection Delayed until 2019 The implementation of the Bulgaria-Turkey gas grid interconnection project has been delayed and it will be completed no earlier than 2019, according to Ivan Ayolov, Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy. Speaking Thursday during a conference titled "Natural gas – infrastructure and services" organized by the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers, Ayolov suggested that the government had inherited gas projects which had not been developed to the stage they were supposed to have reached. He informed that the construction of the gas link with Romania was to be wrapped up in end-October, after which the facility would undergo tests. According to reports of energy news portal 3e-news.net, Kiril Temelkov, CEO of state-owned gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz, vowed that the Bulgaria-Romania gas grid interconnection would start functioning by end-2013. Ayolov also informed that small progress had been registered with the Bulgaria-Greece gas link but the implementation of the Bulgaria-Serbia gas grid interconnection project had been fast-tracked, especially after the visit of Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihaylovic. Bulgaria's Deputy Economy and Energy Minister specified that the land expropriation procedures for the Bulgaria-Serbia gas link and the selection of a designer were to start by end-October, thereby allowing the launch of construction works in May 2014 and the completion of the project by 2017.
Source: Standart (04.10.2013)

Champions in construction Companies Geostroy, from the Geotechmin group, and SK- 13 Holding took the prize for the largest construction companies in 2012 in the sectoral ranking of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber (BCC). They took first prizes among large enterprises respectively in the High-rise construction and Infrastructure construction. Winners are selected based on the data for revenues, fixed assets and number of employees submitted to the building register. According to the regulation the most important criteria with 15 points is revenue for the year, the other two criteria bring 5 points. The largest company in the category of high-rise building is Geostroy with revenues of BGN 111.8 million in 2012 at BGN 63.6 million a year earlier. Data for large sites has not been submitted, but Geostroy traditionally works on sites of the copper complex Ellatzite-Med.
Source: Capital (28.10.2013)

Bulgaria’s Bulgartransgaz extends tender deadline for 4.6 mln euro gas storage project Bulgaria’s gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz has extended the deadline of a 9.0 million levs tender for the construction of an exploitation well for the country's Chiren underground gas storage, the company said The deadline has been prolonged to November 28 from October 24, the company said in a filing on its website on Friday. It did not specify the reasons for the change. The project includes the construction of the pipeline to the well and a separation unit. The Chiren underground gas storage, located in northwestern Bulgaria, has 22 exploitation wells and a capacity to hold 550 million cubic metres of gas. Bulgartransgaz is a subsidiary of Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD (BEH).
Source: Construction City (29.10.2013)

Bulgaria's BEH Raises EUR 500 M from Bond Issue Bulgaria's state energy holding company BEH has raised EUR 500 M, the company announced as the early signing for its bond issue on international market was wrapped up. The company initially planned a EUR 250 M bond issue, needed to refinance debt which matures in May. The bond issue, which will cover the bridge financing, is for five years with an interest rate of 4.287%. BEH was incorporated in 2008 with a decision of the then ruling Socialist-led government. BEH EAD is a shareholding company with 100% state owned participation. The Holding includes Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD, Maritsa East 2 TPP EAD, Kozloduy NPP EAD, NEK EAD, Electricity System Operator EAD, Bulgargaz EAD, Bulgartransgaz EAD and Bulgartel EAD. All companies, brought together in the holding structure, preserve their operational independence and licenses, as they are all owned and directly subordinated to the corporate center BEH EAD. The Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD is one of the largest companies in the region, and national energy leader. Bulgaria tapped last summer international markets to raise funds to repay the first tranche of about EUR 835 M (USD 1.07 B) in 11-year Eurobonds, which matured on January 15, 2013.
Source: Capital (04.11.2013)

National Electricity Company with a new boss On the 26th of November Bulgarian Energy Holding took a decision to release of NEC’s Board of Directors Vladimir Inkov. He will be replaced by Ekaterina Istatkova. Istatkova has a long-term experience in State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, where he headed department Economic analyses and regulatory auditing. A day later NEC’s Board of directors unilaterally chose for a new CEO the present member of the Board Yordan Jelev. It’s the fifth change in the management of National Electricity Company from the start of the year.
Source: money.bg (29.11.2013)

European Commission: South Stream bilateral deals breach EU law The bilateral agreements for the construction of the Gazprom-favoured South Stream gas pipeline – concluded between Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria – are all in breach of EU law and need to be renegotiated from scratch, the European Commission said on December 4. Speaking in the European Parliament, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, director for energy markets at the European Commission, said the deals were in breach of EU law. "The Commission has looked into these intergovernmental agreements and came to the conclusion that none of the agreements is in compliance with EU law," Borchert said. "That is the reason why we have told these states that they are under the obligation, either coming from the EU treaties, or from the Energy Community treaty, that they have to ask for re-negotiation with Russia, to bring the intergovernmental agreements in line with EU law," he added. EU's Energy Commissioner, Gunther Oettinger, had just sent a letter to Russian energy minister Alexander Novak explaining the situation and asking him "to look positively" into the possibility of re-negotiating the deals with the countries concerned.These include EU members Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, as well as Serbia, which is a member of the Energy Community, an EU-backed international agreement covering former communist countries of Eastern Europe. "What I can say is the intergovernmental agreements will not be the basis for the construction or the operation of South Stream. Because if the member states or states concerned are not renegotiating, then the Commission has the ways and means to oblige them to do so. And South Stream cannot operate under these agreements," Borchardt insisted.
Source: Standart (05.12.2013)