Bulgarian Parliament Officially Cancels Fee on Russian Gas for Serbia and Hungary

The Bulgarian Parliament has adopted the decision to cancel the tax on the transit of Russian natural gas. The fee was dropped after Hungary threatened to veto Bulgaria for Schengen, the Novinite portal reports.

Serbia and Hungary addressed the European Commission due to the fee, and the minister of energy of Serbia, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, stated recently, in response to the news that the tax was being cancelled, that it was also an important political question.

– The have been some examples in the past where such decisions were stopped and we are glad that the same has happened now. We addressed the Energy Community, of which we are a member, and it forwarded that inquest to the European Commission, so we have solved a potential problem that way, so our citizens will not pay for gas at higher prices – the minister said at the time.

Also, Bulgaria's Parliament on Monday voted, 144-0, to pass on first reading draft legislation prohibiting the export of fuels produced from Russian oil as from January 1, 2024 and ending the processing of oil originating from Russia by the country's only oil refinery, Russian-controlled Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, as from March 1, 2024, BTA reports.

In this way, Bulgaria cut short a derogation from the EU embargo on oil imports from Russia that the European Commission granted Bulgaria in 2022 due to the country's specific geographic exposure.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Government of Bulgaria

Ministry of Energy

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

fee on Russian gas transit

Russian gas transit