Bulgaria decided to freeze its ears to spite Putin

Sofia cannot decide on the resumption of gas supplies from Russia

Bulgaria, which previously categorically refused to pay rubles for Russian gas, is ready to back down. There is no unequivocal opinion in the Bulgarian leadership on the issue of resuming the supply of raw materials from our country, however, the Minister of Energy of the Republic, Rosen Hristov, said that the government is discussing such a possibility. Sofia has less and less time to hesitate. The contract with Gazprom expires at the end of 2022, and, as Senator Alexei Pushkov said, Bulgaria should be given the opportunity to feel what winter is like without Russian gas.

“We are a government of technocrats and we consider alternative gas suppliers to Russia as a priority, but if there are not enough of them, I will not become the minister who will leave people to freeze in winter,” Hristov said, commenting on the possibility of resuming the purchase of energy resources in our country. He confirmed that the relevant negotiations are continuing on an ongoing basis and are close to a potentially positive solution.

Recall that Gazprom suspended exports to Bulgaria at the end of April. Sofia stopped transferring advance payments to the monopoly after Moscow demanded that importers transfer payments for “blue fuel” in rubles. In May and the first two summer months, the Balkan Republic used previously formed reserves or bought fuel on the free market in Europe, but closer to autumn, even “special reserves” prepared for emergencies began to deplete in the country, so Sofia had to look for any opportunity to provide for herself fuel for the coming heating season.

“Bulgaria can actually resume Russian supplies of “blue fuel” at any time,” says Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. – Sofia did not terminate the long-term agreement with Moscow on the import of raw materials, but only for a few months stopped paying for the contracted volumes. By extending the current contract and reinforcing the document with additional conditions, which assume the transfer of settlements to the Russian currency, Bulgaria will receive the declared volumes literally the next day.”

At the same time, according to Alexei Grivach, Deputy Director General of the National Energy Security Fund, there are no prerequisites so far that Sofia’s possible return to purchasing “blue fuel” under contracts with Gazprom and Bulgaria’s de facto agreement to pay for raw materials in rubles will turn into a trend into which other EU consumers will also be included – Poland, Denmark, Holland, Finland and the Baltic countries, which previously categorically refused the conditions set by Moscow. Bulgaria, unlike other former European clients of the Russian monopoly, is in an extremely difficult position. In mid-summer, the country faced a government crisis, which resulted in the appointment of a technical cabinet of ministers, whose main task is to prepare a springboard for early parliamentary elections in early October, so any decisions of current high-ranking officials can be challenged by the new government.

On the eve of the change of the national assembly, the situation in Bulgaria is heating up not only in the domestic political arena, but also in the energy sector. An example of this is the contradictory statements of the leaders of Bulgargaz: in early August, the chairman of the board of directors of the main energy company, Ivan Topchiisky, announced the continuation of negotiations with Gazprom on the issue of resuming the supply of Russian hydrocarbons, and a few days later, the director of the holding, Lyudmil Yotsov, said that he would consider the official offer of our country to pay for gas in rubles.

“Sofia, apparently, in the near future will have to figure out her own cabinet intrigues and establish more loyal gas relations with Moscow. The rest of the “refuseniks” have more reason to do without supplies from our country,” explains Igor Yushkov. Poland continues to hope to purchase liquefied fuel from the United States, Finland is making plans to increase imports from Norway, and the energy balances of Holland and Denmark, as a rule, did without Russian raw materials before, and the fuel purchased from Gazprom was resold on the European market.

In turn, the Bulgarians have just begun to create an LNG receiving terminal, which can become an alternative to Gazprom’s pipeline feedstock only in a few years. Therefore, the upcoming heating season without Russian “blue fuel”, especially in the context of a change of government, risks becoming the most severe test for Bulgaria. Especially if Russia follows the recommendation of Senator Alexei Pushkov, who said: “Bulgaria should be given the opportunity to do what it so desperately wanted to spend the winter without Russian gas.”