site.btaUPDATED Energy Minister: Bulgaria Is Not Buying Anything Covertly

Asked whether the contract with the Turkish company Botas would allow for buying Russian gas covertly, the caretaker Minister of Energy Rossen Hristov said that Bulgaria is not buying anything covertly. During a hearing in the parliamentary Committee on Energy, Hristov was adamant that "everything is done absolutely publicly, and this can be easily verified".

The Minister pointed out that the agreement with Turkiye is strategically good, as Bulgaria's commitment is to "get the tanker" into Turkish waters. It is then Botas's responsibility to take it over and unload it at one of its terminals.

"We are working very actively not only with Greece and Romania, but also with five other EU Member States, to find a solution that does not involve the closure of coal capacities in the country, because this is a matter of energy and national security. However, former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov cannot be part of the solution, because he is the cause of the problem," Hristov told reporters in response to Petkov's conversation with the Greek Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas earlier Wednesday. Petkov and Skrekas agreed that their two countries should jointly request new talks with the European Commission on the future of coal-fired plants.

"We are committed and will implement everything the EU adopts in the area of decarbonization. We want our Recovery and Resilience Plan to be fully aligned with European initiatives," Hristov said. He accused the previous government headed by Petkov of making commitments without any prior analyses or justification. According to Hristov, shifting the problem to Bulgaria's neighbouring countries and trying to renegotiate Bulgaria's problems through these countries is unfair.