Sharjah 24 – AFP: Bulgaria's government announced Monday that it would seek talks with Russian energy giant Gazprom to resume deliveries of natural gas ahead of the winter season.
Gazprom cut deliveries to Bulgaria in late April after the EU member's previous centrist government refused to pay in rubles.
President Vladimir Putin decided that Russia would no longer accept gas payments in currencies other than the ruble in retaliation for the West's economic sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Bulgaria is almost totally dependent on Russia for its annual consumption of 3.0 billion cubic metres of natural gas, and has been scrambling to secure alternative deliveries since the cut.
"In practice, it is now inevitable to negotiate with Gazprom Export to resume deliveries," interim energy minister Rosen Hristov told a press conference.
"We obviously have to turn to them... Gazprom Export right now becomes an absolutely valid option," he added.
While the European Union has imposed a ban on most Russian oil imports and a coal embargo, it has avoided sanctions on gas as the bloc is highly reliant on Russian supplies of the fossil fuel.
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