Talks about the South Stream project are forthcoming, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov said Friday. In his words, there was no progress on the project in the last month. "We will not participate if we are likely to lose money," Traikov added.

Answering a MP's question about the consequences of a 2006 supplementary agreement between Bulgargaz and Gazprom during Friday's question time at Parliament, Traikov explained that under the agreement in question, the price of gas is 83 dollars/1,000 cubic metres until the full market price is reached, in accordance with a coordinated price schedule covering the April 1, 2007 - December 31, 2012 period.

During the 2007-2008 period, 1,416 million cubic metres of natural gas were supplied. Its price increased on a six-month basis. Under the terms of the auxiliary agreement, Bulgargaz paid 651,668,948 dollars in 2007 and 1,106,464,591 dollars in 2008.

Without the supplementary agreement, under the terms of the transit contract signed in 1998, Bulgargaz would have to pay 588,046,248 dollars in 2007 and 866,580,031 dollars in 2008. In other words, gas supply costs increased by 304,507,000 dollars during 2007 and 2008, Traikov explained.

At the same time, under the two versions of the contract with Gazprom transit costs remain the same, because the supplementary agreement does not include price increase, but adjustment of transit fees only.

Source: BTA