Lea Zuber, spokesperson for the European Commission has confirmed that the EC has requested information from Bulgaria about the deal between Bulgargaz and the Turkish BOTAS, providing access to the Turkish gas pipeline.  

• Bulgaria’s caretaker government approves agreement between Bulgargaz and Turkey's Botas

The suspicions are of possible breaches of European competition rights, as the Bulgarian company could turn out to be the only company in the EU with access to natural gas via Turkey’s infrastructure.

“Our role is to ensure compliance with the European regulatory standards on the internal energy market. In case of indications of non-compliance, including, of course, a breach of the EU anti-trust rules, we will not hesitate to take appropriate action,” Lea Zuber said.

Meanwhile it became clear that the EC is launching an investigation into the 13-year deal concluded by the caretaker cabinet of Galab Donev, appointed by President Rumen Radev, with the Turkish government in January this year for obtaining access to the LNG regasification terminals and the subsequent transmission of gas to Bulgaria.