Bulgaria is ready to provide assistance to Moldova if Russia cuts off gas supplies from January 1, Bulgarian Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said, answering questions from Bulgarian National Radio, UNN reports .
The Bulgarian energy minister reminded that about a month ago, the two countries signed a document on crisis response:
“We are in constant contact with the Minister of Energy of Moldova, so they also rely on us. We are ready to support them. We are ready to support them by providing access to LNG, as well as through the state supplier Bulgargaz, as soon as they ask for help.
“Gazprombank was placed on the US sanctions list because of Russia's war against Ukraine. However, as Malinov said , until March 20 next year, sanctions are allowed to be waived for payments for the transit of natural gas through the Turkish Stream via Bulgaria.
However, he did not answer the question of whether transit through Bulgarian territory could stop on March 21 if a way to pay transit fees is not found by then.
Recall
The Russian energy company Gazprom has announced that starting January 1 it will stop supplying to Moldova due to the country's debt.
The Prime Minister of Moldova declared that he does not recognize the debt to Gazprom. The country has diversified its gas sources and is considering applying to international arbitration.