State-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz needs to collect overdue payments amounting to over BGN 200 M from four heating utilities and three or four industrial companies, according to Bulgargaz CEO Dimitar Gogov.

In a Wednesday interview, Gogov made clear that the gas firm had filed lawsuits for another BGN 300 M, meaning that the total sum Bulgargaz expected to receive was around BGN 500 M.

He said that the heating utilities in Sofia, Burgas, Vratsa and Pleven were the biggest debtors, adding that there were heating utilities that were very regular payers, like the ones in Plovdiv, Varna, Razgrad and Ruse.

"How come some heating utilities pay their bills and never delay the payment of even a single lev," Gogov inquired.

"At present, Bulgargaz does not have a single lev of free financial resources to lend to support the activities of any consumer," he noted.

He did not exclude a suspension of gas supplies to the indebted heating utilities, meaning that the cities could be left without hot water in the summer.

Gogov said that Bulgargaz issued letters to warn about a forthcoming suspension of gas supplies at least 7-10 days before the step, way more than the 72-hour notice for which it was contractually obligated.

The CEO of Bulgargaz assured that hot water supply in the Black Sea city of Burgas would resume Wednesday evening.

Citizens of Burgas were left without hot water on Tuesday after the local heating stopped operations due to the suspension of natural gas supplies from Bulgargaz over a debt of around BGN 4.5 M.

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