Bulgargaz gives Gazprom a month to pay 400 million euro for undelivered gas
State-owned Bulgargaz, which has fallen into a precarious financial situation, is making three unexpected but belated moves. Firstly, the gas supplier is to file a 400 million euro lawsuit against Russia's Gazprom over supplies cut off since the invasion of Ukraine in April 2022. Caretaker energy minister Vladimir Malinov says that the Russian company will be given one month in which to pay voluntarily, or face an arbitration case in Paris.
The second move is an attempt to optimize the huge cost of reserved capacity under what has become an infamous agreement with Turkey's Botas, by which Bulgaria pays 36,000 levs per hour to the gas company for nothing because it does not use the reserved transmission capacity. It has been decided to offer these slots to other traders by auction or to have the company itself supply the gas for their benefit. The third is a tender for the supply of liquefied gas from Turkey, won by Botas, which will take place in June.
State-owned Terem military factories to produce kamikaze drones
The state-owned Terem factories have started producing kamikaze drones, reconnaissance drones and mini-drones. In addition, the military factories are also turning to the production of 155 mm caliber, NATO-standard projectiles, the specialized defense media outlet pan.bg reported, citing answers from the Bulgarian Defense Ministry. The ministry explained that it is seeking partnerships with companies with experience in drone technology and proven solutions.
The announcement comes after, in January 2024, Terem Holding CEO Kalin Dimitrov told departmental media that the company would start producing combat drones in a few months. According to his statements, Terem would initially start assembling drones from parts of external suppliers, with the idea to later master their production in the company's structures. The ammunition used by the drones will be Bulgarian and will be produced at Terem's Khan Krum plant in Kostenets.
INSAIT receives USD 1 million from Google for PhD scholarships
Fellowships for PhD students in Artificial Intelligence at the Bulgarian Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology - INSAIT, will be funded with USD 1 million from Google. Thus, the first institute in Eastern Europe in the field of artificial intelligence, founded by prof. Martin Vechev two years ago, will expand and deepen its partnership with the tech giant, which is increasingly focusing on cloud technologies and artificial intelligence.
The news was announced by Vechev, Dr. Slav Petrov, Vice President of Google DeepMind, Boris Georgiev, Google Cloud Director for Central and Eastern Europe, and Bulgarian Minister of Education and Science Prof. Prof. Galin Tsokov at a forum on the cloud services of the technology giant.
In addition to the funding, the PhD students' research work will be guided by Google DeepMind researchers. INSAIT will also get USD 1 million worth of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) credits from Google, which will be used for research purposes in the field of artificial intelligence. Lastly, Google Cloud will give students free and open access to the most powerful and dedicated TPU processors, through which INSAIT scientists can train generative AI models.
Bulgargaz gives Gazprom a month to pay 400 million euro for undelivered gas
State-owned Bulgargaz, which has fallen into a precarious financial situation, is making three unexpected but belated moves. Firstly, the gas supplier is to file a 400 million euro lawsuit against Russia's Gazprom over supplies cut off since the invasion of Ukraine in April 2022. Caretaker energy minister Vladimir Malinov says that the Russian company will be given one month in which to pay voluntarily, or face an arbitration case in Paris.
