Bulgaria, one of the first countries to suffer in April from the interruption of Russian gas deliveries, said it was ready on Monday to resume negotiations with the giant Gazprom for fear of a shortage this winter.
This Balkan country, until then very dependent for energy on Moscow, had refused to pay in rubles and multiplied initiatives to diversify its sources of supply.
But pro-European Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was overthrown in June by a motion of no confidence and the interim cabinet set up in the process called for "
more moderation
" vis-à-vis Russia, to which Bulgaria is historically close. .
“
Negotiations with Gazprom Export to resume deliveries from the current contract
,” which ends at the end of December, “
are now inevitable
,” Energy Minister Rossen Hristov told a news conference.
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This is the only solution to obtain an acceptable rate for companies, he explained, after having summoned employers and unions to support this change of strategy.
"
Negotiations with Gazprom will be difficult
", however warned the official, stressing that the rest would depend on the government which will come out of the polls at the beginning of October.
In response to the sanctions imposed by the European Union following the Russian offensive in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has demanded that buyers of Russian gas from "
unfriendly
" countries pay in rubles from accounts in Russia or risk being be deprived of supply.
Those who did not comply saw their taps cut off: in addition to Bulgaria, this is the case in Poland, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Latvia.
Among the others, flows to Europe are drying up: they were down around 70% in July over one year.
Rejecting any new recourse to Gazprom, Kiril Petkov had accelerated the establishment of a new interconnection gas pipeline with neighboring Greece, to receive gas from Azerbaijan from October.
He had also negotiated deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.
But these efforts are not enough, according to the new government.
Deliveries are only guaranteed for September and only partially for October, said Rossen Hristov on Monday to justify this decision to renew contact with Gazprom.