March 1 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's energy regulator said on Monday that it approved a decrease of the wholesale price of natural gas to 28.64 levs ($17.66/14.64 euro) per MWh in March from 30.39 levs per MWh in February.
In its decision, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) took into account the information about the market indices of the European gas hubs and the average euro/dollar exchange rate of the European Central Bank for the month of February, the regulatory body said in a statement
The price adopted by the regulator is in line with the proposal submitted for approval by public gas supplier Bulgargaz.
Under changes to Bulgarian energy regulations introduced last year, Bulgargaz is required to set the wholesale gas price monthly instead of quarterly.
In March 2020, Bulgargaz negotiated a 40.3% cut in the price of Russian natural gas imports based on an agreement between the European Commission and Russia's Gazprom. Bulgargaz and Gazprom changed the pricing formula for Russian gas imports, setting as its main component the price on the regional markets instead of the price of petroleum derivatives.
Earlier this year, Bulgaria also started receiving natural gas from Azerbaijan via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)