Faced with the suspension of Russian gas, what alternatives for Bulgaria?

The Russian group Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it had suspended all its gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland, while Bulgaria is 90% dependent on Russian gas.

(Illustrative image) © REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

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The Russian group Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it had suspended all gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland.

The reason: the two countries had refused to pay for their gas imports in roubles, as Moscow now demands.

Poland, like Bulgaria, have shown themselves to be reassuring about their ability to find the missing gas by other means, but on the side of Sofia, dependence on Russian gas is significant.

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90% is what Bulgaria's dependence on Russian gas represents today.

And when the Bulgargaz company received the notification to stop deliveries from

, it was initially astonishment that reigned.

Already, because the government assures it, Sofia has fully discharged its obligations vis-à-vis Moscow.

But also because Bulgaria has shown itself to be rather in the background since the beginning of the Russian invasion, and remains one of the rare NATO countries to oppose the delivery of arms to Ukraine.

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An unacceptable blackmail for the Prime Minister 

The Bulgarian Prime Minister on Wednesday denounced “ 

” after the suspension by the Russian group Gazprom of all its gas deliveries to this Balkan country as well as to Poland. 

This interruption, decided on the grounds of non-payment in rubles as demanded by Russia in response to Western sanctions, “ 

”, declared Kiril Petkov to the press.

“ 

»

Many hopes turned to Azerbaijan 

Once the news is announced, the moment comes to reassure the population: the government assures that actions to find alternatives have been undertaken, and for the time being, no measure to restrict consumption is planned.

According to Bulgaria's energy minister, the country has a month's supply of natural gas ahead of it, and he claimed that as he spoke on Wednesday, gas was still flowing.

The country also relies heavily on gas deliveries from Azerbaijan, thanks to the gas pipeline under construction between Bulgaria and Greece, which should open in June.

A project launched in 2019, and it was already at the time, to free oneself from Russian gas.

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