Bulgaria, Russia Sign Protocol on 11% Gas Supplies Markdown
Bulgaria and Russia signed a protocol on an 11% markdown for Gazprom gas deliveries until the end of the year taking effect retroactively from April, Bulgaria's energy ministry said.
In nominal terms, the size of the markdown will depend on the volume of gas which Bulgaria buys in the remaining months of the year, the energy ministry said in a statement after a meeting Monday between energy minister Delyan Dobrev and Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of Gazprom's management committee.
At the meeting Bulgaria and Russia also agreed to sign a new gas supplies contract by November 15.
By that date Sofia should take a final investment decision on the South Stream gas pipeline construction, another agreement which the sides signed on Monday stipulates. Both Bulgaria and Gazprom's own participation in the South Stream project will be minimum, the statement quoted Dobrev as saying.
Bulgaria imports almost all the natural gas it needs from Russia through a pipeline crossing the territories of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.