The Bulgarian government has referred Russian gas supply contracts signed by the previous Cabinet to the chief prosecutor's office after a jump in domestic prices, private bTV television reported Friday.
Gazprom's export chief, Alexander Medvedev, and its chairman, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, are expected in Sofia on Tuesday to discuss the contracts and other energy projects, Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov said.
The government's press service and prosecutor's office were not immediately available for comment Friday. But Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said earlier in the week that the contracts would be sent to prosecutors for investigation, adding that he expected charges to be filed against people who signed the deals.
Gas prices for the third quarter rose 25 percent to reflect higher costs of Russian imports and a stronger dollar, which the Cabinet said was because of unfavorable deals signed in 2006 by the previous Socialist-led coalition.
The increase also affected politically sensitive heating prices. Power and heating bills, especially in winter, eat up a large part of Bulgarians' wages and pensions, which remain well below those in Western Europe.
It was not clear what violations the center-right Cabinet, elected a year ago, suspected. But Traikov has said the previous Cabinet gave into pressure from Moscow to change contracts that had been favorable to Bulgaria, which gets almost all of its gas from Russia.
In 2006, state gas monopoly Bulgargaz signed a new contract with Gazprom that abolished a barter system under which the Russian supplier paid for gas transit through Bulgaria by selling Sofia a corresponding amount of gas at a significant discount to market prices.
Under the deal valid until 2030, delivery prices would increase gradually to average market levels by December 2012.
Tuesday's bilateral talks will also cover the Belene nuclear power plant and the South Stream pipeline project, which aims to carry gas from Russia under the Black Sea to the Balkans and into Western Europe, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, Interfax reported.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Borissov discussed the projects by telephone on Friday, Peskov said. He confirmed that Zubkov would travel to Sofia on Tuesday to discuss the projects.
Separately, Bulgaria said it would make a final decision on building an oil pipeline from its Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis on the Aegean Sea after an environmental impact assessment is completed in February.
“The feasibility of this pipeline is questionable,” Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov said in the parliament Friday. “The source of financing is still unclear, and the oil supply for the pipeline has not been secured.”
Russia, Bulgaria and Greece agreed in 2007 to build the 285-kilometer oil pipeline. The 1 billion euro ($1.25 billion) pipe, with a capacity of 35 million metric tons of oil a year, would bypass Turkey’s crowded Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, saving the oil industry shipping costs.
Turkey is using the environmental damage caused by BP’s Gulf of Mexico spill to press its case that oil traffic through the straits is unsafe and potentially dangerous.
Should Bulgaria decide to pull out of the politically unpopular project, it will not have to pay compensation to Russia and Greece, Djankov said, as the projected pipeline route violates a European Union directive for conservation of wildlife.
(Reuters, Bloomberg, MT)
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.