[[{“value”:”
[[{“value”:”
SOFIA – Bulgaria’s liberal We Continue the Change party is seeking Washington’s support to push through a proposal to impose additional fees on Russian gas transit to Central Europe, which was rejected in the Bulgarian parliament.
The party’s co-leader, former prime minister Kiril Petkov, attended Donald Trump’s inauguration last week and met with key US energy officials to push the initiative.
Asked by Euractiv whether the initiative had been discussed with Trump’s team, Petkov said: “I never miss a chance to promote this initiative.”
He added that a senior official in the new administration told him the plan could serve as a model for US-EU cooperation while advancing the interests of both sides.
Petkov told Euractiv that as the Trump administration takes office, a bold energy play in Eastern Europe could give new meaning to his ‘Drill Baby Drill’ campaign promise.
A surcharge on Russian pipeline gas would make US LNG cheaper for customers in Central Europe, where the traditionally Russian-dominated market is worth $7.1 billion a year, he added.
“This is a win-win-win situation for the US, Europe, and Bulgaria,” Petkov said.
A request for comment to the European Commission on Wednesday did not receive a response in time for publication.
Bulgaria no longer imports gas from Gazprom, but remains the only transit route for Russian gas to Central Europe via the TurkStream/BalkanStream pipeline.
Bulgarian Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has warned that forcing Gazprom to pay a new transit fee would require renegotiating existing agreements – something she described as difficult, if not impossible.
But Petkov insists that the numbers support the shift: Turkey and Greece’s combined LNG terminal capacity of 29 billion cubic metres (bcm) could fully replace the 15.75 bcm of Russian gas currently flowing through TurkStream to Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary.
At current TTF prices of €45 per megawatt/hour, this represents a potential annual revenue of $7.1 billion for US LNG exporters.
Petkov argues that the transit fee would generate substantial revenues for Bulgaria during the transition period – money earmarked for schools, hospitals, and social benefits for young families – while advancing broader Western strategic interests.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
“}]]
The post Bulgarian liberals seek Trump’s support to surcharge Russian gas transit appeared first on Energy News Beat.
“}]]