2023-11-13 17:15:00
Bulgaria has introduced an additional payment for the transit of Russian gas through its territory. It amounts to 20% of current market prices for the fuel itself. Hungary threatened the EU court and filed a complaint with the European Commission.
The European Commission (EC) has received a complaint from Hungary about the decision of the Bulgarian authorities to introduce an energy contribution for the transit of Russian gas and is studying it. An EC representative announced this at a briefing Tim McPheeInterfax reports.
“I can confirm that yes, we received the letter last week. Of course, we are analyzing it as expected,” said a representative of the European Commission. Tim McPhee previously said that the EC is in contact with the Bulgarian authorities and other interested parties to assess the consequences.
On October 13, amendments to the law “On control over the use of restrictive measures in connection with Russian actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine” came into force in Bulgaria. With this document, local parliamentarians introduced an energy fee for the import and transit of Russian gas, except for autogas. It is 20 leva per 1 MWh or about $ 115 per thousand cubic meters. This is more than 20% of the current cost of fuel on European markets and is several times more expensive than the cost of transit through Bulgaria.
Hungary and Serbia immediately protested against the introduction of surcharges for transit.
Minister for EU Affairs of Hungary Janos Boka announced a complaint to the European Commission and Budapest’s readiness to file before the end of the year with the EU Court if Brussels does not start a process against the Bulgarian authorities for violating the rules of the union and convinces them to suspend the contribution.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Sijarto and Minister of Finance of Serbia Siniša Mali signed a joint declaration stating that Bulgaria’s decision threatens the energy security of the two countries.
It is known that the transit of Russian gas through Bulgaria is paid for by Gazprom and European traders who take gas from the Turkish Stream. These costs are included in the cost of gas.
Gas supplies from Turkish Stream via Bulgaria are one of Gazprom’s two remaining export routes to EU countries. In this way, fuel is supplied to Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Romania and North Macedonia. Bulgaria has not been receiving Russian gas directly since last year, as it refused to switch to a new payment mechanism, but is repurchasing it from European traders.
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