Russia, Bulgaria Plan to Negotiate New Gas Supply Contract

Russia and Bulgaria plan to start talks on replacing a natural-gas supply contract that expires next year, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said after meeting his Bulgarian counterpart Traicho Traikov in Moscow. 

“It is necessary to start talks on the new agreement as soon as possible,” Shmatko said yesterday in a statement on the ministry’s Web site. “We are very interested in keeping Bulgaria as our traditional buyer and will try to shape gas supply proposals that will be attractive.”

The ministry didn’t specify which of Russia’s contracts with Bulgaria will expire next year or give an exact date.

Russia, Bulgaria’s sole supplier of gas, shipped about 3.5 billion cubic meters of the fuel to the Balkan country last year under several contracts, according to OAO Gazprom, the Moscow- based gas export monopoly.