Russia announces suspension of gas transit through Ukraine
Bulgaria's Energy Minister said that the country has received an official letter from Russia's Gazprom Export Company, announcing plans to stop gas transportation along the Trans-Balkan Corridor from January 2020.
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| Gas pipeline at a gas pumping station in the town of Boyarka, Ukraine. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
Sputniknews reported that Bloomberg news agency on March 12 quoted Bulgarian Energy Minister Temothyzhka Petkova as saying that Sofia had received an official letter from Russia's Gazprom Export Company, announcing plans to stop transporting gas along the Trans-Balkan Corridor from January 2020.
In an interview with Bulgarian private television channel bTV, Temothyzhka Petkova affirmed that Sofia has the right to file a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court to demand compensation from Gazprom for transit costs, which the country will receive under the contract until 2030.
According to her, this possibility is only possible if for some reason the second transit branch of the "Turkish Stream" project does not pass through Bulgaria.
Since December 2014, Moscow has announced the termination of the "South Stream" gas pipeline project due to the unconstructive views of the European Union (EU), to focus on the "Turkish Stream" project with 2 pipelines with a capacity of 15.75 billion m3 each.
The first pipeline is designed to supply gas to Türkiye and the second pipeline will carry gas to Southern and Southeast European countries, expected to be inaugurated by the end of 2019./.