Bulgartransgaz cannot continue transporting gas without December payments, the Bulgarian government said.
Bulgaria is considering the option of stopping the transfer of Russian gas to Serbia through a gas pipeline Turkish Stream from the New Year if Gazprom does not provide payment in accordance with US sanctions against Gazprombank. This is what Bulgarian Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said, local publication Novinite reports.
According to him, Bulgartransgaz cannot continue the delivery of gas without December payments, which always go through the sanctioned Gazprombank.
Gazprombank owns the main reserve capacity Turkish Stream through Bulgaria to Serbia until 2039, making its payments critical to Bulgartransgaz’s operations.
However, recent US sanctions against Russian banks have complicated financial transactions.
“This development increases uncertainty about the continued operation of the pipeline, a key transit route for Russian natural gas bypassing Ukraine, created after the failure of the previous South Stream project, ” it said.
Malinov said the Russian energy giant will soon clarify its payment method.
Earlier, the former Deputy Minister of Economy of Bulgaria, Alexander Manolev, announced a media attack against him, whose ultimate goal was to stop arms exports to Ukraine, adding that “a only country is interested in bringing such nonsense about arms exports to Ukraine the day before the election,” referring to Russia.
Source: korrespondent
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