Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom pledged to resume gas flows to Europe via Ukraine at 0900 local time today if no problems arise.

Gas is expected to reach Bulgaria at the end of the work week although Russia vowed first shipments will be headed for the Balkans.

While this should be the end of the hardest stage of the unprecedented six-day gas crisis that broke between Europe and Russia, Moscow and Kiev have not buried the hatchet yet. The threat remains that Russia will turn off the tap again if it finds out that Ukraine siphons off gas from transit routes.

The European Union, whose ministers held an extraordinary session in Brussels yesterday, started to rethink energy security and Russian relations.

Moscow urged that the South Stream natural gas pipeline project, which will ship Russian gas under the Black Sea to the EU, be sped up, and the ministers of the countries involved in the Nabucco project, which will pump natural gas from Turkey to Austria, are meeting in Budapest in end-January.

Yesterday Bulgaria asked for EUR 400 million in aid to expand gas storage and build pipeline links to Greece and Romania.

Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov told his EU counterparts the country might restart a reactor at its Kozloduy nuclear power plant unless the crisis is resolved in the coming days.

The parliamentary energy committee will weigh today several proposals by MPs for an immediate restart of units 3 and 4 at the plant.

Bulgaria is experiencing no power shortage and even continues to export electricity but whole capacities have no alternative to gas fuel.

Bulgaria is seeking cutting off middlemen for Russian gas shipments and reworking the price formation formula, said Dimitar Gogov, executive director of state-run gas company Bulgargaz.

The memorandum with Gazprom signed in 2006 guarantees deliveries up till 2030 but contains no details about long-term supplies, Gogov said.

The two contracts for Russian gas deliveries expire in 2010 and 2012, respectively, and the Bulgarian company is already approaching the gas giant to agree more favourable conditions.

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told MPs Bulgaria pays less than USD 400 per 1,000 cubic metres in the first quarter of 2009.

According to western analysts, Gazprom’s gas price will fall to USD 250-180 in the coming months.

On European markets, gas prices plunged by double digits on the news of the Russian-Ukrainian deal, Bloomberg reported.

(Dnevnik)

The second week of trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange promised no good for investors as all indices ended lower on Monday.

SOFIX of the blue chips was down 1.33% to 350.42 points, and Dnevnik 20 of the biggest and most liquid stocks was off 0.68% to 52.57 points.

Trade volumes inched up on Friday to some BGN 700,000, still a far cry from last year’s average daily levels.

Investors are still cautious and are unlikely to come out of their shelves before the end of the month, forecast Nikolai Kyuchukov, broker at investment brokerage Elana Trading.

Only six Dnevnik 20 companies edged up in Monday’s trading. One was flat, no deals were struck with another one, and 12 finished in the red.

Stara Planina Hold, resort operator Albena and Industrial Holding Bulgaria led decliners.

(Dnevnik)

Bulgaria’s November trade deficit widened by BGN 1.46 billion to 24% of the gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2008, or by 23.6% less than October’s rise of BGN 1.916 billion, showed data of the National Statistical Institute.

October’s slump in industrial production and sales squeezed export, but still they shrank slower than imports.

Exports dwindled 16.4% in November compared to October.

FOB (free-on-board) exports rose by 19.7%, and while CIF (cost-insurance-freight) imports) dropped 19.6%.

Meantime, trade balance deficit narrowed to 2.3% in November 2008 from 2.8% in November 2007.

The 0.5 percentage points fall in a single month is a positive sign, and if it turns out to be a trend it will soothe worries over bridging the deficit, said Georgi Angelov, macroeconomist at Open Society Institute.

Another factor for the steep declines in imports and exports is the weakening consumption and the falling metal and oil prices. The sliding oil, which is one of Bulgaria’s major import items, may affect VAT revenue, Angelov warned.

Elana analyst Tsvetoslav Tsachev forecast the oil will continue to drop through the coming weeks but will soon bottom out and reach an annual average of some USD 45 a barrel.

(Dnevnik)

Nova Television and Diema TV channels owner, MTG, has signed a three-year contract for the full data package of Bulgaria’s first people meter system, TNS/TV Plan.

The media monitoring agency will measure the audiences of all of MTG’s channels, said Mila Nikolova, TNS/TV Plan executive director.

In 2006 the broadcaster hired GfK Audience Research Bulgaria after its former management doubted the accuracy of TNS/TV Plan data for years.

Nova Television declined to comment on the news but said it will work with both people meter systems.

The new agreement may stir the market as Bulgaria’s all three national channels – bTV, BNT and Nova Television, as well as TV2, will use the same provider.

The contract is a step forward to a single rating supplier for the market, said BTV research head Margarita Alexandrova.

Bulgarian media using people meter data will meet by early February to renew a discussion on the creation of a joint industry committee of media, advertisers and advertising agency, which will own viewrship data and guarantee accuracy.

(Dnevnik)

The Government should work out measures to encourage biofuels as an alternative to natural gas, the National Biofuels Association in Bulgaria said in a statement to the media.

The country has enough raw materials to make its own biodiesel and bioethanol and reduce dependence on Russian gas supplies, said Miryana Misheva of the association.

Last October members of the association threatened to take legal action against the state for abandoning tax incentives for the sector.

However, oil products distributors said yesterday the dependence on crop and temperatures makes biofuels an unreliable energy source.

“Indirect taxation now makes biofuels more expensive than fossil fuels,” said Dimitar Tortopov, fuel retail head at EKO Bulgaria petrol filling stations.

Not a single thermal power plant works on biofuel because they are not an alternative to either gas or coal, Tortopov added.

(Dnevnik)

Bulgaria’s Comission for Protection of Competition will start imposing heavier fines from February although new rules have been in place since early December.

In a bid to curb monopoly abuse and disloyal competition, the watchdog will fine firms with up to 10% of previous-year turnover instead of with fixed fines.

To illustrate how the new rules work, the Sofia heating utility was slapped two fines of a combined BGN 450,000 for using its monopoly position to act against users’ interests. The old law set the cap at BGN 300,000, or 0.08% of the utility’s 2007 turnover of BGN 365 million.

In December cellphone operator Globul was fined BGN 150,000 for a misleading SMS game. The fine made up 0.01% of the carrier’s 2007 revenue of BGN 806 million.

Wireless company Mobiltel was fined for a similar game early last year. The fine of BGN 150,000 accounted for 0.013% of the operator’s BGN 1.141 billion revenue for 2006.

The CPC estimated it served fines of a combined BGN 8.410 million for disloyal competition and monopoly abuse in 2008.

(Dnevnik)