16.10.2023
Bulgaria is free to impose a tax on the importation and transportation of Russian gas. This is how Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov commented from Tirana on the tax as approved by the National Assembly in the amount of BGN 20 per megawatt hour or approximately 100 cubic meters of Russian natural gas that enters and passes via the country. The decision is effective from 13 October inst.
Despite the sanctions against Russia, “some countries were allowed to import Russian gas as they had no other options. Hungary and Serbia are such countries. However, with interconnectors in place, there exist alternatives and the Russian gas should not enjoy any special privileges,” the Prime Minister said further. He cited as an example the caretaker government’s contract with the Turkish company Botaş. The contract provides for a tax on the import and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG). “Actually, the tax that we have imposed provides an opportunity for real competition between LNG from different sources and the gas that comes from Russia,” Acad. Nikolai Denkov said.
Today the Prime Minister is in Albania to attend the Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit. The Summit of the heads of state and government of the six Western Balkan countries discussed their integration as they move together to the European Union. “Negotiations with the EU face difficulties for various reasons, but these are not impediments to the said countries’ individual integration with one another in the field of trade and the movement of goods, capital and people. This prepares them for their integration into the European Union,” the Prime Minister noted. The Tirana Summit discussed ways to speed up these processes both between the Western Balkan countries and in connection with the negotiations for their accession to the European Union.
