The 75 percent increase in natural gas prices last year had a negative effect on consumption, and BOTAŞ was obliged to pay for unused gas. In order to boost consumption, BOTAŞ has introduced new campaigns, discounting the wholesale price by 2 percent, causing harsh reactions from four firms which recently entered the market, claiming that the discounts were causing unfair competition. Speaking to the Zaman daily, Komlev said Gazprom did not and never would intervene in the process of deciding gas prices.
Fours firms in the natural gas sector apart from BOTAŞ -- Enerco, Bosphorus, Avrasya, and Shell Gas -- are currently buying natural gas from the Russian firm Gazprom. The contraction in the sector due to price hikes reaching 75 percent in 2008 created risks, as the contracts require payment even if natural gas goes unused.
Responding to questions from Zaman about whether they can apply different pricing schemes to different distributors, Komlev said they would be acting as a monopoly if they did so. When asked whether giving discounts to smaller firms would be viable, Komlev mentioned that giving discounts to bigger firms would make more sense but that they would still be acting as a monopoly.
According to Komlev, the price that BOTAŞ presents to its distributors is determined by their margin on top of Gazprom’s price and that Gazprom has no say in this pricing. Moreover, Komlev noted that natural gas prices are connected to oil prices with a specified formula, and that even if oil prices were low enough to cause losses for Gazprom, they would not change the pricing formula. Komlev revealed that he thinks the reason for the increase in natural gas prices is American speculators in the sector. Regarding next year’s gas price, Komlev said there would be no significant increases or decreases in price.
The cost to Gazprom of the January 2009 dispute between Ukraine and Russia, caused mainly by Ukraine’s debt to Russia from the natural gas it imported from Russia, was $2 billion, Komlev said. He added that despite the natural gas crisis not stemming from Russia, Gazprom has still lost a great deal of money.
“Taking into account that the price of natural gas increased to $400 during the dispute for 1,000 cubic meters from around $200, the magnitude of the Gazprom loss can be better understood.” They never intended to hurt their customers, but since the parties stubbornly resisted each other’s demands, eventually European consumers were hit, he said. According to Komlev the main reason the dispute took place between the two countries was because Gazprom stopped subsidizing Ukraine in terms of natural gas prices. Komlev added that Ukraine should adapt to normal market process.
