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 will stop Russian gas transit contracts for short-term agreements in 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 stated that the bloc was in negotiations to find a way to advance this by an additional year.
The EU's proposal for sanctions still needs unanimous support from all EU members. Hungary and Slovakia are opposed to new sanctions against Russian energy.
Zhelyazkov said on Wednesday that as a member of EU we would join in the decision to suspend contracts for the transit or use of Russian natural gases in the short-term, 2026 and the long-term, 2028.
Zhecho Stankov, Bulgaria's Energy Minister said that Bulgaria has "a tremendous potential" to become a major natural gas transit country from US LNG terminals.
He said: "As of yesterday we had two confirmed deliveries for November and December, that will be delivered to Bulgarian businesses and citizens, and originate from LNG terminals located in the U.S."
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.
Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Foreign Minister, said that Bulgarian's minister of energy assured him that Bulgaria will continue to be an reliable transit partner for Hungary.
Slovakia on Wednesday
Push back
On the pressures it faces to reduce its purchases of Russian Energy, it said it was willing to discuss the matter. (Reporting and writing by Ivana Skularac; Additional reporting by Krisztina than; Editing by Ed Osmond.)
(source: Reuters)
