Alexey Belogoryev, Deputy Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Svobodnaya Pressa Internet portal, why Bulgaria has no other option but to restore cooperation with Gazprom.
Earlier it was reported that, giving an interview to BTV, Alexander Nikolov said that the decision of the country's government, which refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles, was hasty. “We intend to bring this topic up for discussion with the European Commission (EC) regarding the compliance of Moscow’s demand with Western sanctions,” he said.
According to the expert, now Russian gas is cheaper than it was in April due to the nature of the contracts:
“Currently, buying Russian pipeline gas under most contracts is cheaper than buying LNG from Greece. Here is the question of price. Therefore, now, when Bulgaria sees that most EU countries have agreed to gas supplies on Russian terms, that is, when opening two accounts with Gazprombank, it naturally has a legitimate question - why should it infringe on itself when most large countries have agreed to these conditions?”
“Therefore, I do not really understand what Bulgaria will talk about with the European Commission, because the European Commission, in fact, has no position. It, of course, is against this way, but it has no tools to defend its position. Therefore, most likely, this is part of the political struggle within Bulgaria, in order to save face and return to commercial relations with Gazprom,” Alexey Belogoryev summarizes.
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