A source close to Bulgarian gas company Bulgartransgaz told TASS that the suspension of Russian gas transportation through Bulgarian territory because of payment issues has not been considered and this would be an extreme measure.
“Terminating the transit of Russian gas through Bulgarian territory will be the last resort and has not been applied so far,” the source stressed.
Bulgaria hopes that the issue of payment for Russian gas transit will be resolved. Sofia also sees nothing serious in the current situation. “The payment will be received before December 20,” the source added.
Previously, on December 10, Bulgarian Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said that Bulgaria could stop transiting gas from Russia to Serbia and Hungary if Gazprom could not find a way to pay in the context of US sanctions.
“Bulgartransgaz will strictly implement the contract and will not allow gas transportation if the service has not been paid for,” he said.
The minister explained that currently, the Bulgarian state gas company Bulgargaz has received all payments. Bulgaria is waiting for an order for gas transit via pipeline from Gazprom.
Gazprombank remains the only bank authorized to process payments for Russian gas, and some countries such as Hungary have applied for sanctions exemptions to maintain supplies.
The US announced sanctions against Gazprombank in late November.
Hungary still receives the majority of its gas from Russia under a long-term contract with Gazprom. In 2022, 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas were delivered to the country via the TurkStream pipeline and its branches through Bulgaria and Serbia. According to Hungarian data, that number will increase to 5.6 billion cubic meters in 2023.
The gas pipeline through Bulgaria transports nearly 18 billion cubic meters of gas to Serbia and Hungary each year.
In addition to this pipeline, Russian gas is transported to EU countries via Ukraine.
However, the agreement to transit Russian gas through Ukraine will expire at the end of this year.
Once gas transit through Ukraine stops, TurkStream will effectively be Russia's only significant source of pipeline gas supplies to Europe.
