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Bulgaria signs deal for gas supplies via Turkey

January 3, 2023

State-owned Bulgargaz has penned a 13-year deal for access to Turkey's LNG terminals and transit network. Russia halted deliveries to EU member state Bulgaria in April.

This picture shows a view of the facility of the Lozenets-Nedyalsko natural gas transit pipeline to Turkey near the village of Lozenets on August 3, 2018. - The gas pipeline extension will increase the capacity of transited natural gas from 14 billion to 15.7 billion cubic metres a year,and will enable the transportation of gas in the opposite direction from Turkey to Bulgaria
Russia stopped supplying gas to Bulgaria in April of last yearImage: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Bulgaria's state-owned gas provider signed an agreement on Tuesday with its Turkish equivalent, Botas, granting Bulgargaz access to Turkey's state-owned gas trading company's liquefied gas terminals and supply grid.

The 13-year-arrangement was signed in the presence of the two countries' energy ministers.

Bulgargaz to use the Botas network to shift gas

According to Bulgaria's interim Energy Minister, Rosen Hristov, the accord solves the problem of his country's lack of infrastructure for unloading liquefied natural gas (LNG).

"Thanks to this agreement we secure the possibility to buy gas from all international producers and unload it in Turkey, where it's most convenient for us logistically," Hristov said.

The minister added that it would enable Bulgaria to shift up to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

"The agreement is important for increasing the security of deliveries in the Balkan region," Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said.

Energy shift caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Until last year, Bulgaria heavily depended on Russia for its gas supplies, but Sofia has had to look for alternatives in the wake of the Kremlin's decision to invade Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Moscow by the European Union.

After gas directly acquired from Russia was stopped in April, Bulgaria connected its gas network to the Greek grid, joining the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and bringing energy supplies from Azerbaijan.

jsi/jcg (AP, AFP, dpa)

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