Bulgaria signs long-term gas deal with Turkey

Bulgaria has signed a long-term deal with neighbor Turkey that will give it access to liquefied natural gas terminals and the gas supply grid in the country as Sofia aims to replace Russian as its main energy supplier.

The deal gives Bulgaria  access to Turkey’s liquid gas terminals and transit network.

Bulgaria’s state gas company Bulgargaz and the Turkish gas transmission company Botas on signed a 13-year deal on Tuesday under which the liquid gas Bulgaria buys on international markets will be unloaded and processed in Turkish terminals and then transferred via the Botas gas network to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has been almost fully dependent on Russian gas, but is seeking alternatives after Moscow cut off deliveries in April after Sofia refused to pay in Russian roubles in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

“With this agreement we are securing the opportunity to buy gas from all global producers and offload it in Turkey, which best suits Bulgaria logistically,” Bulgaria’s interim Energy Minister Rossen Hristov said.

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said the agreement would allow Bulgaria to transport about 1.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year and would help increase the security of supplies in southeastern Europe.

Donmez said that Turkey’s network currently acquires natural gas from 15 countries.

For decades, Bulgaria had almost fully relied on Russia to cover its annual needs of about three bcm of gas a year. Moscow suspended deliveries to Bulgaria in April, after Sofia refused to pay for gas in roubles.

Romania relatively unaffected by Russian gas cut-off

 

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