Gas. Surely, that was the topic of the day, after Russia's state-owned company Gazprom announced it was suspending gas supplies to Bulgaria, without giving specific reasons. Today Bulgarian politicians tried to explain how the country will manage without Russian gas. "Bulgaria will move to increase alternative supplies through Greece (Azerbaijani gas and LNG), and there is an option to import certain quantities from Romania," Energy Minister Aleksandar Nikolov said.
PM Petkov promises "retaliatory measure" against Gazprom
"Bulgaria will not comply with any request that is outside the gas supply contract. No one can blackmail Bulgaria," said Prime Minister Kiril Petkov during today's press conference of "We continue the change" today in response to Gazprom's decision. Petkov added that Bulgaria is already inspecting all contracts for the transit of Russian gas to look at possible measures it can take following Russia's unilateral breach of the gas supply contract. "We have given the contracts to reputable law firms to examine them and there will be a retaliatory strike," Petkov vowed.
Bulgaria will not stop the transit of gas to Serbia and Hungary
Bulgaria has no intention of stopping transit gas to Serbia and Hungary since it is a loyal partner to neighboring countries, added Nikolov at a briefing. Such suggestions were made soon after Gazprom announced its intentions. Technically, Bulgaria can do this because the Turkish Stream pipeline passes through the country, but in reality, Bulgaria can use nothing of what Gazprom transits through this pipeline en route to Serbia and Hungary.
WCC and President Radev disagree over military aid to Ukraine
Another hot topic today, again, was the military aid to Ukraine. President Rumen Radev strongly opposed the provision of weapons to Ukraine and said he saw no sense in the Bulgarian delegation's visit to Kyiv.Later in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev described Radev's comments as disgraceful. They reiterated that the Bulgarian government would support Ukraine against the aggressor.
"Mr. Radev's position saying that Bulgaria would only prolong the conflict by giving weapons to Ukraine is disgraceful because it implicitly states that Russia will win this conflict and that it is normal and good for Russia to win. I think Ukraine will win in this conflict, we must also help her," said Vassilev.
Gas. Surely, that was the topic of the day, after Russia's state-owned company Gazprom announced it was suspending gas supplies to Bulgaria, without giving specific reasons. Today Bulgarian politicians tried to explain how the country will manage without Russian gas. "Bulgaria will move to increase alternative supplies through Greece (Azerbaijani gas and LNG), and there is an option to import certain quantities from Romania," Energy Minister Aleksandar Nikolov said.
