Gazprom Export has told Bulgaria it plans to stop sending gas through Ukraine to Bulgaria next January,

Gazprom Export has told Bulgaria it plans to stop sending gas through Ukraine to Bulgaria next January, Bulgaria’s Energy Minister, Temenuzhki Petkova, tells bTV, Bulgaria’s largest TV station. To replace the 30-year-old Ukraine pipeline route, Bulgaria, which depends on Russia for two thirds of its gas, plans to build this year a 484 km pipeline from the Turkish border through Bulgaria to Serbia. This new ‘Balkan Gas Hub’ would transport gas from Russia’s TurkStream and from Romania’s offshore fields. Gazprom has told Bulgartransgaz to raise the $1.6 billion to build the pipeline. In retort, Petkova threatens to sue Gazprom for $110 million in annual transit fees that Bulgaria should receive under its Ukraine transit contract, valid until 2030.