Russian gas transit through Bulgaria hits record high

Sofia: Fresh data show that the transit of gas via Bulgaria’s TurkStream-BalkanStream pipeline in January has reached a historic high, after Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas via its territory.

Data from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) show that on an annual basis – January 2025 compared to January 2024, there was a significant growth of 26.7% in Russian gas supplies through the Bulgarian pipeline, which represents a historical maximum.

The pipeline carrying Russian gas across Bulgaria was built during the third term of long-serving prime minister Boyko Borissov. Called TurkStream in Turkey, in Bulgaria it is named BalkanStream. The Bulgarian part of the pipeline which became operational on 1 January 2021 has cost 2.15 billion leva (€1.1 billion).

The pipeline through Bulgaria, with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters, is now the only active route for Russian gas to Europe, transporting it to Serbia, Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary. After the suspension of transit via Ukraine on 1 January, it began to receive additional gas.

Although Bulgaria doesn’t buy Russian gas for its own needs, the country gets substantial revenue from the transit. About 15 billion cubic meters of gas passed through the pipeline in 2024, according to data from the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Euractiv research shows that since it started operations, BalkanStream has earned 1.7 billion leva (€870 million) in transit revenue. The calculation was made based on data compiled from open sources.

Asked by Εuractiv, ΕΝΤSOG indicated that despite the increase, the technical capacity of the Bulgarian-Serbian border has not yet been reached. Practically all the capacity until now has been booked by Gazprom, until 2039.

For now, the Bulgarian gas company Bulgartransgaz has no concerns about transit payments and the Gazprom-booked capacity coming from Gazprombank, which is subject to sanctions by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Bulgarian part of TurkStream is exempt from sanctions for these transactions until 20 March 2025. After that, however, a different payment scheme will be needed.

In the absence of a solution, countries in the region will be severely hit by the gas shortages and Hungary in particular, which has not diversified its supplies, will be left without any gas.