Bulgaria, one of the first countries to suffer from the disruption in Russian gas supplies in April, said it was ready on Monday to resume negotiations with giant Gazprom amid fears of a shortage this winter. This Balkan country, which until then had been heavily dependent on Moscow for its energy supply, had refused to pay in rubles and had taken numerous initiatives to diversify its sources of supply.
But pro-European Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was overthrown by a motion of no confidence in June, and the interim cabinet that was appointed called for “more moderation” towards Russia, with which Bulgaria has historically been close. “Negotiations with Gazprom Export on resuming supplies from the current contract” which ends at the end of December “are now inevitable,” Energy Minister Rossen Hristov told a news conference.
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This is the only way to achieve an acceptable rate for companies, he said, after asking employers and unions to support this change of strategy. “Negotiations with Gazprom will be difficult,” however, the official warned, stressing that the rest depends on the government that will emerge from the elections in early October. In response to the sanctions imposed by the European Union following the Russian offensive in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has demanded that buyers of Russian gas from “unfriendly” countries pay in rubles from accounts in Russia or have their supplies cut off.
Those who did not comply had their tap cut off: in addition to Bulgaria, this is the case in Poland, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Latvia. Among other things, flows to Europe are drying up: in July they fell by around 70% within a year. Kiril Petkov rejected any new recourse to Gazprom and accelerated the construction of a new connecting gas pipeline with neighboring Greece to receive gas from Azerbaijan from October. He had also negotiated supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States. But according to the new government, these efforts are not enough. Deliveries are only guaranteed for September and only partially for October, Rossen Hristov justified this decision to renew contact with Gazprom on Monday.
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