Bulgaria – Following the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, many countries decided to diversify their gas suppliers, and are now increasingly sourcing their supplies from Azerbaijan… a godsend for Bulgaria, through which much larger quantities of gas now do transit now.

All gas is „considered Russian by default”

Since 8 November, the Bulgarian authorities have imposed additional export fees on all gas transiting through their territory. As the Hungarian magazine Világgazdaság explains, it was indeed planned that „Bulgaria should receive an 'energy contribution’ of 20 levs [10 euros …] for each megawatt-hour of natural gas of Russian origin entering and transiting its territory,” – „the law adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament on 28 September and which came into force on 13 October” referring only to Russian gas – but in practice, Bulgaria now applies this tariff to all users of its gas pipeline network, as according to Bulgartransgaz, it is up to users to declare the origin of the gas, all gas being „considered Russian by default”. Gas transiting through the Turkish Stream or from Greece to Serbia is also affected.

Officially, this additional tax is intended to reduce the privileged position of the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom in south-east Europe and generally reduce Russian influence in the region.

Up to a quarter of the price of the gas itself

This „additional charge amounts to a quarter of the price of the gas itself”, which is not insignificant. In the case of Russian gas destined for Hungary, however, it should be noted that this additional tax is paid by Gazprom „because the Russian company bears the costs until the gas reaches [the terminal at] Kiskundorozsma,” near Szeged in the south-east of the country. However, if this tax were to remain in the medium or long term, there is no doubt that Gazprom would include it in its prices when renewing its contracts.

Ukraine will not renew the contract for the transit of Russian gas

Furthermore, Bulgaria’s importance as a transit country for gas destined for Europe is not about to diminish, since, as Index.hu points out, the Ukrainian company „Naftohaz will not be renewing its contract for the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine to the European Union, which expires at the end of next year”. Naftohaz CEO Oleksiy Chernysov made it clear: „It’s ridiculous to support Russia by buying Russian gas in times of war. And we see that Russia has used natural gas and oil as weapons.”