/ world today news/ Relations between Moscow and Sofia are at their lowest political and economic level. But what excites Bulgaria the most is the economic side.
And when these relations reach the bottom, as it is at the moment, it is quite logical that the Bulgarian leadership wants to discuss the current problems and search for options for a way out of the impasse. This is how expert Yuriy Kvashin, head of the European Union Research Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), commented on the telephone conversation between Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (September 27), which was held at the initiative of the Bulgarian side, the agency reports. Economy Today’.
During the conversation, the two discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation in the field of economy and energy, as well as current topics about the Balkan gas hub and the repayment of the Bulgarian debt of 660 million euros to Rosatom.
As Yuriy Kvashin notes, in recent years, after the return of GERB to power, relations between Russia and Bulgaria have been at a dead end. “GERB is a center-right pro-European Bulgarian party which in many respects follows the general policy of the EU and in fact obeys the instructions from Brussels without question,” the expert claims.
“After her return to power headed by Boyko Borisov, the relations between our countries deteriorated in all spheres, starting with nuclear energy, where Russia had to build the new units of the Bulgarian NPP “Belene”, and ending with the issue of gas supplies. Sofia’s position, together with that of the European Commission, was largely decisive for the fate of the South Stream gas pipeline, Kvashin notes.
The expert emphasizes that “South Stream” was a profitable project for Bulgaria, which could turn the country into an important gas transitor for Europe. “On the one hand, the project guaranteed the supply of gas, on the other – profits from its transit, but now the Bulgarians actually lost everything,” says Kvashin.
According to him, the Bulgarian government’s attempts to warm its relations with Russia are mainly related to economic problems – a drastic drop in Russian investments in the country, as well as a drop in trade and tourism due to European sanctions against Russia.
#Russian #expert #GERB #calling #Putin #search #impasse
