Maros Sefcovic

EU energy boss Maros Sefcovic said late on April 30 that Europe could import natural gas from ex-Soviet Turkmenistan via Iran as Brussels ramps up efforts to break its dependence on Russian-sourced energy.

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has said that the EU pays a lot for energy supplies and expects to be treated as a major customer.

Ukraine's energy minister has said the country intends to stop buying Russian natural gas for the time being as of April 1 when Kiev's current supply deal with Moscow expires.

The next round of gas supply talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU will be held in April, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on Friday he has been assured by EU energy chief Maros Sefcovic that the European Commission will finance the construction of a gas interconnection between Bulgaria and its southern neighghbour Greece.

"I believe we'll be able to build it using European funds," Borisov told reporters in Brussels following a EU Council meeting.

Any decision to build a pipeline to transport Russian gas through Turkey should be made in consultation with the European Union and should not breach pre-existing legal commitments, the European Commission?s energy chief said.

Bulgaria's Regional Development Ministry has launched a tender for the assignment of a public procurement related to the Bulgarian section of the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline.

Moscow and Kiev are due to attend a three-way meeting on gas issues in Brussels, the EU Commission has said.

Trilateral gas talks Russia-Ukraine-Commission confirmed. @MarosSefcovic meets with RU & UA Energy Ministers in Brussels on Monday 2 March.

? Anna-Kaisa Itkonen (@AK_Itkonen) February 26, 2015

The EU unveiled plans on Feb. 25 for a continent-wide single energy market to reduce its uneasy reliance on Russian supplies and cut a massive annual import bill of some 400 billion euros.
      

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said on Monday that the establishment of an EU Energy Union will bring the level of European political and economic integration to a new level.

Plevneliev stated this during his meeting with European Commission's Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, the presidential press service reports.