Russia–Ukraine gas disputes

Moldova and Ukraine have signed a contract to upgrade gas distribution stations for imports from Romania, stepping up preparations for potential supply disruptions as their gas contracts with Russia come close to expiring.

Later tonight, a tanker to supply gas from the United States will arrive, the Energy Minister said, quoted by NOVA TV.

Bulgaria has negotiated a new 140 million cubic meters of gas other than Russian supplies of blue fuel. This was announced by Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova at an extraordinary briefing.

Gazprom stops transit of gas to Turkey through Bulgaria. The company has sent an official letter to the Bulgarian government stating that it will stop supplying gas on the Trans-Balkan Corridor through Ukraine until January 2020, the Turkish version of the Russian Sputnik News site reports.

Gazprom's exports to the so-called Trans-Balkan gas pipeline (through Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey) declined in the first three weeks of February compared with January's average daily indicator. According to Bulgartransgaz data, the daily load of the Malkochlar border gas station for the second half of the month was about 3.3 million cubic meters, which is 6 times less.

The Working Group of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission proposes to increase its natural gas price by 13.89% from 1 October. Unlike before, the experts' analyzes have confirmed Bulgargaz's request for price increase, which was introduced on September 10th.

The TurkStream pipeline, due to supply Russian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea from next year, is already 80 percent complete, the CEO of the Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Aug. 30.

Russian gas giant Gazprom said on May 30 that its first-quarter net income rose 11 percent to 371.6 billion rubles ($6 billion), thanks to higher gas prices and sales volumes, beating analysts' expectations.

Russian state gas giant Gazprom said on May 26 it had signed a protocol with the Turkish government on a planned gas pipeline and agreed with Turkish firm Botaş to end an arbitration dispute over the terms of gas supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held wide-ranging talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Ukraine conflict, Europe's response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and the construction of a pipeline bringing gas from Russia to Germany.

Over the past week, Gazprom has recorded absolute record-breaking gas exports thanks to the cold weather in Europe. The low temperatures and depleted stocks of European gas storage facilities at the end of winter led to an increase in gas prices on the spot market by more than 30%. The forecast for the new week is for more cold weather.