Russian gas company Gazprom has demanded compensatory payments from Bulgaria following Sofia’s refusal to pay in rubles for gas last year, Bulgaria’s acting energy minister said on Friday, according to Archyde.com.
Russian gas deliveriesPhoto: Peter Kovalev / TASS / Profimedia
Gazprom cut gas supplies on which Bulgaria was almost entirely dependent at the end of April 2022 following the European Union country, along with other EU member states, refused Russia’s request to pay for gas in rubles following its invasion of Ukraine.
Bulgaria’s long-term contract with Gazprom for natural gas, set in US dollars, expired at the end of 2022.
“There is a correspondence in progress. Claims were raised by the Russian side for a certain amount of money, we responded back…. I don’t want to comment further due to confidentiality,” Acting Energy Minister Rossen Hristov said on national television station BNT .
“They want us to pay for something they think we owe them,” he said, adding that steps were being taken to defend Bulgaria’s interests.
Gazprom declined to comment.
