Former Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev has reported positive feedback about the presence of around 3 billion cubic meters of gas near the southern city of Svilengrad and the extraction can start within three years.

Speaking Monday in Dimitrovgrad, Dobrev, who heads the list of MP candidates of center-right party GERB, argued that the deposits would suffice to meet Svilengrad's needs for a period of over thirty years, adding that the price of local output would be 35% cheaper than the current one.

During his visit to Dimitrovgrad, Dobrev met Monday with representatives of the management of fertilizer plant Neochim.

Todor Dimov, Chief Financial Officer of Neochim AD, noted that the lower price of gas had allowed a 10% increase in salaries and the payment of bonuses to the employees of the plant.

Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Neochim, noted that the reduction in the price of natural gas, which accounted for 70-80% of the price of fertilizers, was expected to reduce the cost price of the plant's output.

The management of the fertilizer plant pointed out that the decrease in gas tariffs had been made possible by the successful negotiations conducted by the GERB government.

In his Monday statement, Dobrev made clear that the production of gas from Bulgaria's Khan Asparuh deep-water block would start in four years' time.

He also informed that a total of eight international companies had already filed bids for gas prospecting and exploration activities at Block 1-22 Teres, adding that the contract with the winner was expected to be in place by end-May 2013.