Bulgaria has ‘carte blanche’ on using Russian gas tax cash, says EU Commission

Bulgaria can decide how it will be using the revenues it makes from the €10/MWh tax on Russian gas imports transiting through Bulgarian territory, the European Commission confirmed on Monday.

Last Thursday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov announced that consultations are underway between Bulgaria and the European Commission on the energy tax of €10/MWh introduced on 13 October on Russian gas imports that transit through Bulgarian territory.

“The fees charged by Bulgaria for the transit of Russian gas to Serbia, Hungary and North Macedonia are a national measure, and therefore, it is up to Bulgaria to decide where to allocate the revenues,” Commission spokesperson Tim McPhie told the press on Monday.

Bulgaria expects €1.2-1.5 billion in annual revenue from the new tax, which Denkov said could go directly into the EU budget.

But Bulgaria’s move has already angered Hungary and Serbia, which depend on Russian gas transported through the Turkish Stream extension. While Budapest and Belgrade say the gas tax will make Russian gas 20% more expensive, Sofia says Gazprom should pay the money.

“So far, the EU has imposed 11 sanctions packages against Russia. The restrictive energy measures affect oil and coal, but not gas imports,” the spokesperson explained.

Bulgaria expects revenue from the new fee to be paid on 14 November, but some Bulgarian energy experts doubt whether the country will receive any money at all. This is because pipeline gas can hardly be certified as Russian as it combines several sources, energy expert Kaloyan Staykov told Euractiv Bulgaria.

Gazprom has yet to publicly comment on the newly introduced energy tax, and it is not yet clear whether they intend to pay it.

A week ago, Bulgarian Finance Minister Asen Vassilev said that if Gazprom refuses to pay, its financial collateral from contracts in Bulgaria or assets in the country will be seized.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)