Bulgaria: Negotiations with Gazprom on gas supplies “inevitable”

Alekseev and Khristov had earlier attended the meeting of the gas crisis staff appointed by the interim government. When organizing this crew, Prime Minister Jeep Dunev said that Because of the upcoming winter, the situation is critical.

Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria on April 27 Sophia’s demand to pay for the raw material in rubles, which was categorically rejected by the then government of Kirill Batkov and began to look for alternative suppliers. According to Petkov’s opponents, the government continued to import Russian gas through intermediaries, which was 20-30 percent higher than that purchased directly from the Russians. This led, among other things, to increased inflation. This ratio was In July, 16.9 percent year on year.

At the same time it turns out that An interconnection line with Greece through which Bulgaria should receive 1 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Azerbaijanwhich represents one third of the domestic consumption of raw materials, not ready yet. The works are scheduled to be completed in September and the flow of Azerbaijani gas through it will begin on October 1.

The day before leaving the post of prime minister, Petkov announced that he had reached a preliminary agreement on the supply of seven US LNG carriers, and the final agreement was to be signed by his successors. But the problem is that Bulgaria has no LNG terminals, and regasification in Greece and Turkey increases the price of fuel. In the end, the current government signed a contract for the delivery of LNG by one tanker.

Employers’ organizations and trade unions support the resumption of negotiations with Gazprom, affirming this The business cannot afford the current raw material prices and there will be huge bankruptcies. Several large heating plants have already cut off hot water for several weeks.

on the other side Supporters of the former ruling party strongly oppose negotiations with Russia. Protests were organized on several occasions in front of the residence of President Rumen Radev, who, according to the constitution, appointed an interim government after the parliament was dissolved. More protests were announced.