Nine days into the pricing dispute between Moscow and Kiev that resulted in the halting of all gas deliveries to Bulgaria, "the agony will begin" if nothing were to happen over the following five days, an MP from Bulgaria's three-way ruling coalition said on January 15.

Gas transit firm Bulgartransgaz can provide half of the country's daily gas needs until no later than January 21. Bulgaria's industry would not be able to survive a more drastic cut in gas supplies, a check by Dnevnik has showed.

The gas storage facility in Chiren, northeastern Bulgaria, can provide a maximum quantity of 4.2 million cu m for up to five days. The stored gas, together with the amounts in the transmission grid, could sustain a total consumption of 5.7 million cu m a day for that period. After that, Bulgaria will only be able to use gas from the Chiren storage, which could pump no more than 3.8-3.9 million cu m a day, analysts have said.

In the bleakest scenario, consumption will be reduced by two million cu m, but any further restrictions would be discussed with businesses, Atanas Saikov, crisis management director at the Economy Ministry, told Dnevnik.

At any rate, gas to fertiliser plants and steelworks would not be cut off to avoid the collapse of those companies, the official said.

Ukraine said it was ready to transport 99.2 million cu m of gas to the Balkans daily, but was still arguing with Russia over the prices Moscow would pay for the transit.

If Gazprom does not resume supplies by the end of the month, Bulgaria would seek ways to deliver gas from Greece and Turkey, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said.

Most companies have used options to switch to an alternative fuel and gas is now used almost exclusively by production facilities that have no other alternative, a check by Dnevnik has showed.

Plovdiv-based non-ferrous smelter KCM re-opened a black oil powered unit, shut down 14 years ago. However, some of the production units can only run on natural gas and cutting supplies too low may result in the spilling of poisonous substances into the Chaya River should the plant's waste treatment facility be overloaded, director Stoyan Pehlivanov said.

At Rousse-based auto components maker Montupet, gas is only fed to smelting furnaces, which cannot operate on any other fuel, said the company's human resources director, Ivelin Dimitrov.

No cut-off of gas supplies to Biovet has been discussed, said the drug maker's supervisory board chairman, Kiril Domouschiev.

Source: Dnevnik