Bulgaria's long-term contract with Gazprom expires at the end of 2022.
The Minister of Energy of Bulgaria in the interim government stated that the Balkan country will “inevitably” discuss restoring gas supplies with Russia's Gazprom, which were halted in April after the previous government promised to ensure sufficient supplies for the winter, Reuters reports.
Rossen Hristov did not say when negotiations with the Russian company would begin, but said they were necessary to provide the country with cheaper gas. “Given the demands of business and trade unions, negotiations with Gazprom on resuming supply are inevitable,” Hristov told reporters. until April, when Gazprom stopped supplying Bulgaria due to the previous government's refusal to pay in rubles.
Hristov accused reformist Prime Minister Kyril Petkov of the previous government, which fell in June just six months after taking office, of undermining relations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
He said that did not expect easy and quick negotiations. “The situation with Gazprom is not rosy at all… We would have to turn to them now. The negotiations will be very, very difficult,” he told reporters.
Hundreds of Bulgarians have protested against the interim government since it came to power on August 2, fearing it could restore Russian gas supplies and reassert the Kremlin's influence over the economy.
Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said on Sunday that gas supplies to Bulgaria can be resumed if there is political will from Sofia, emphasizing that payments must be made in rubles.
Currently, the country, which needs about 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year, receives 1 billion cubic meters per year from Azerbaijan , and buys the rest on the market.
Gas prices jumped about 60% to 300 leva ($153.44) per megawatt-hour in August.
Business organizations and trade unions said high gas prices were hitting industry and called on the government to find ways to resume importing Russian gas, which would be cheaper than on the open market.
According to Hristov, this week Sofia begins talks with Azerbaijan to increase Azerbaijani supplies, and will discuss supplies with Turkish gas traders.
Also read: Southern European states secretly make record purchases of Russian oil – Bloomberg
The interim government has decided to deal with US gas company Cheniere for just one batch of liquefied natural gas in October, saying it could not secure LNG terminal slots at affordable prices for the other six batches agreed by the previous cabinet.
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