Bulgaria will start to receive natural gas from Russia's Gazprom directly through Turkey from 1 January and will no longer use the transit route via Ukraine and Romania, said on Monday energy Minister Temenujka Petkova.
Petkov said that the new route for the pipeline "Turkish stream" will be more cost-effective and can lead to lower prices for natural gas by about 5% per year.
Bulgaria will provide almost all of its gas needs, around 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year, due to deliveries of "Gazprom".
"We are changing the entry point for gas supplies from Russia. Reason: economic benefits and better conditions for Bulgarian customers," Petkov told reporters.
Bulgaria built the 11-kilometer line between its national gas network and the Russian pipeline "Turkish stream" on the border with Turkey and is ready to accept the inflow of gas, said the head of gas network operator Vladimir crimson.
Russia is building the "Turkish stream" in two threads, each with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters a year to bypass Ukraine from the South. The first pipeline is designed to supply to Turkey, and the second will go to Bulgaria to Serbia and Hungary.
At present, Russia also supplies natural gas through Ukraine and then through Bulgaria to Turkey, Greece and Northern Macedonia. Until the end of the year it is planned to sign a new transit contract to pump 65 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through Ukraine to EU countries.
