Bulgaria will not Suspend Gas Supplies to Serbia and Hungary but will Review Contracts with Gazprom

For the time being, Bulgaria has no intention of stopping transit gas to Serbia and Hungary. This became clear at a briefing by Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov, who gave more details about Gazprom's decision to suspend natural gas supplies to Bulgaria. He added that our country is a loyal partner to neighboring countries, but clarified that all existing agreements, to which Gazprom is a party, will be reviewed. Nikolov did not specify the purpose of this decision.

Natural gas for both countries is supplied through the Turkish Stream pipeline, built by the GERB government for BGN 3 billion. Bulgaria receives money for transit shares.

Nikolov explained at the briefing that in early April, Gazprom told the Bulgarian side that it wanted natural gas supplies to be paid for in rubles, not dollars, as agreed. Immediately afterwards, an analysis of Russia's new two-stage payment procedure began. It was found that it hides risks, as it is not known at what exchange rate the relevant amounts will be converted into rubles. According to Nikolov, this could lead to large losses for Bulgarian energy companies. According to him, there is a risk of paying for supplies that will not even be made.

The Minister of Energy also said that Bulgaria sent a reply to Gazprom after their first letter, in which it asked for more details on the method of payment. We did not receive anything specific in response, and so it was until April 26, when the Russian company announced that it was suspending supplies.

"We want a legal opinion on the existing contract. Bulgargaz is a long-term and loyal partner of Gazprom. We have documents that deliveries for this month have been paid. Failure to deliver the quantities under...