Bulgaria is under renewed pressure from Russia to sign the final investment agreement on the South Stream gas pipeline by November 15, 2012. Otherwise, Gazprom threatens to forsake the promised 11 percent discount for natural gas supplies, which was supposed to be given for the period April-December 2012, but never came into effect. Gazprom claims that the discount is dependent on Sofia’s commitment to the South Stream pipeline, which will bring Russian gas to Europe along the Black Sea bed, bypassing Ukraine (Standart, June 11).   

The Bulgarian state gas company, Bulgargaz, announced on June 10 that the agreements on the gas price reduction made in March by Bulgarian Minister of Economy Delyan Dobrev and Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller could not be implemented because Gazprom would not sign the documents. Minister Dobrev confirmed that the gas discount depends on the final decision of Bulgaria to accede to South Stream (Capital Daily, June 11).  MORE