Russian gas company Gazprom has demanded compensation payments from Bulgaria after Sofia refused to pay in rubles for gas last year, Bulgaria’s acting energy minister said on Friday, Reuters reported.
Gazprom stopped supplying gas, on which Bulgaria was almost entirely dependent, at the end of April 2022 after the European Union country, along with other EU member states, refused to pay Russia for gas in rubles following its invasion of Ukraine.
Bulgaria’s long-term natural gas contract with Gazprom, denominated in US dollars, expired at the end of 2022.
“Correspondence is in progress. Claims were made by the Russian side regarding a certain amount of money, we responded… I don’t want to comment further due to confidentiality,” the acting director said. of the Minister of Energy Rossen Hristov on the air of the national TV channel BNT.
“They want us to pay for what they think we owe them,” he said, adding that steps were being taken to protect Bulgaria’s interests.
Gazprom declined to comment.
Source: Hot News
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