Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Ministry will decide whether Bulgargaz or Bultransgaz will collect the fees for the transit of Russian natural gas through the country's territory, the head of the nation's power regulator told Dnevnik on August 12.

The State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) has sent a letter to the ministry, insisting that the fees were pocketed by the transmission unit and that the trader Bulgargaz would not be a loss-maker at the prices that entered into force on July 1, when natural gas prices were hiked by five per cent instead of the 19.6 per cent asked by Bulgargaz, SEWRC chairperson Konstantin Shoushoulov said.

The outlook for a loss at one of the units was used by Bulgargaz to motivate its decision to have the two companies sign a transmission contract and share the transmission fees in certain proportion.

Experts said the trader company is collecting the fees in violation of the licence and should be penalised as prescribed by law. The licences were issued a year ago when Bulgargaz was broken up into a transmission and a trading division and Bulgargaz Holding was set up.

Bulgargaz is licensed to operate as a trader while Bulgartransgaz is licensed for the transmission and storage of natural gas.

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