Bulgaria's Energy Ministry

People formerly employed in the mining industry and Roma people allegedly have been involved in illegal mining at the Mini Bobov Dol site, Presa Daily reported.

The current price of a coal bag is BGN 10 and can reach as high as BGN 15 over the winter months.

Bulgaria's Energy Ministry has detected systematic unauthorized extraction of coal at the Bobov Dol basin.

Acting on a tip-off, a group of experts from the Energy Ministry caught people digging for coal without a concession granted in line with the requirements of the Underground Natural Resources Act.

US-based Westinghouse Electric Company said on Thursday it agreed to discuss a new timetable and structure of the project to build Unit 7 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear plant.

Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick said the decision had been taken "jointly by all parties and reflects the present conditions in Bulgaria of support for an infrastructure project of such a scale."

The construction of the second Bulgaria-Greece gas pipeline interconnection (IGB Pipeline) may start in March 2016, according to reports of Bulgaria's Energy Ministry.

Bulgaria's Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will take part in the first meeting of the Consultative Council on the Southern Gas Corridor project.

The meeting will take place on February 12 in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to the press office of Bulgaria's Energy Ministry.

Delyan Dobrev, head of Bulgaria's parliamentary energy committee, has presented an upcoming tendering procedure for two Black Sea exploration blocks to representatives of Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil.

Dobrev met Tuesday with Rune Bjørnson, Senior Vice President for Natural Gas in Statoil, and Tony Doré, Senior Advisor to Exploration Management at the company.

The US is committed to Bulgaria's energy security and to curbing its energy dependence, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said while on a visit to Sofia.

Hydrocarbon drilling at Bulgaria's Khan Asparuh  Black Sea block will be delayed by up to a year due to the slump in global oil prices, the international consortium holding the exploration licence has decided.

Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have failed to reach agreement on the issue of winter gas supplies to Kiev.

The major stumbling block in the 12-hour talks was Ukraine's debt, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak informed that the three sides had agreed late on Wednesday to continue consultations on Thursday.