Belgrade considers Sofia’s claims that it will not extend its contract with Gazprom to be “empty dreams”
In a threatening tone during his next election campaign, Serbian President Alexander Vucic called on Bulgaria to continue supplying Russian natural gas to his country, BGNES reported.
“Bulgaria has announced that it will stop importing Russian gas. I am not sure that this is so easy to do,” Vucic said during a visit to Pozega. We simply say – we want Russian gas from the Balkan Stream. You deliver us (gas, ed.) To our gas pipeline, for which we pay, and what you want is your job, this is not a problem for us, “the Serbian head of state added.
According to him, Serbia should receive Russian gas, “because his country paid transit fees for gas from Russia, which passes through the Turkish stream through Bulgaria.”
His comment is on the occasion of a statement by the Bulgarian Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev. “In the current situation, there will be no negotiations with Gazprom. There are alternatives. The old pipes of the Trans-Balkan flow. We have a capacity of about 20 billion cubic meters and can be used in both directions, we need 3 billion cubic meters. “There are supplies from Qatar, Algeria. This is a pan-European strategy. In the next 1-2 weeks it will be discussed at the European level to make a common gas contract for the whole EU. We expect this mechanism to work in the summer,” Vassilev told BNR.
EMPTY DREAMS
“Statements by Bulgarian officials that they will not extend the contract for the purchase of gas from Russia are empty dreams, because they have nowhere to fill the pipeline except from Russia,” Serbian Gas Company director Dusan Bayatovic told the pro-government Pink TV.
“Bulgaria cannot stop buying Russian gas because it will run out of gas. Personally, I think this is a political statement due to pressure on Bulgaria, but it is also pressure on Serbia and Hungary,” Bayatovic added.
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