Prime Minister says Bulgaria will stop Russian gas transit in 2026 for short-term agreements.

According to Bulgarian news agency BTA, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that Bulgaria would suspend Russian gas transit contracts for short-term contracts by 2026. This is part of the European Union's plans to completely cut off Russian imports. The European Union originally planned to stop imports of Russian natural gas by 2027. This would have ended decades of energy relations with the country, which was once Europe's largest gas supplier. Last week, EU officials announced that the bloc would bring this forward by one year.

Zhelyazkov said on Wednesday that as a member of EU we would join the decision of suspending contracts for the transit or use of Russian natural gases in the short-term, 2026 and the long-term, 2028.

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, was totally dependent on Russian Gas until 2022. It has sought to diversify and find cheaper gas sources.

The Russian gas has been replaced with Azeri and liquefied gas from a terminal located in Greece. (Reporting and writing by Georgi Sekularac, editing by David Goodman.)

(source: Reuters)