"Bulgaria is a key country in the European energy system and has the potential to build a powerful gas hub that will enable the use of different sources of gas, including Russian gas." With these words of encouragement, EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete announced two days ago in Sofia that the European Commission would give the green light for the implementation of the Balkan gas hub near the Black Sea city of Varna. The Bulgarian government has been working on this project for about a year with the ambition of turning Bulgaria into a gas hub for the entire Balkan region. At a joint press conference with Miguel Arias Cañete, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov also stressed that “Russian gas is also welcome” in this gas hub if all European regulations are complied with. Was this hint at Moscow accidental?

Currently Bulgarian natural gas needs are covered almost entirely by Russian gas that arrives via pipes passing through troubled Ukraine. Bulgarians still remember the frosty winter of 2009, when on January 1^st Russia completely stopped gas supplies to Ukraine, claiming the decision was due to outstanding old debts, and the following day Kiev stopped the transit of Russian gas to the Balkans and Europe. Against this background, Sofia enthusiastically welcomed the Russian-Italian gas pipeline project "South Stream", which was supposed to deliver Russian gas through pipes at the bottom of the Black Sea and then through the territory of Bulgaria thus bypassing Ukraine. In June 2014, however, the Bulgarian government, under pressure from Brussels, refused to participate in the project and sent "South Stream" down in history. Moscow’s idea for an alternative route through Turkey also failed after Turkey took down a Russian fighter over Syria and relations between Moscow and Ankara froze.

The idea of ​​creating a gas hub in Bulgaria is wonderful, but where will the raw material come from? Neighboring countries do not have rich resources and the development of gas fields in the Bulgarian waters of the Black Sea is yet to start. Apparently the project will be difficult to implement without Russian gas. Perhaps this explains the "wink" of Brussels and Sofia to Moscow.

The green light for the “Balkan” gas hub project can be interpreted as a signal to restart the ill-fated "South Stream", or as the beginning of a new gas transmission project - "South Stream 2". Not accidentally, while Borissov and Cañete answered the questions of journalists in Sofia, the news came from Moscow of the possible inclusion of Bulgaria as a transit country in a project for a new pipeline. "Bulgaria is a country via which a gas pipeline along the Black Sea bottom from Russia to Greece will obviously pass and from there to Italy," said Yuri Ushakov, assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In February this year the Russian company Gazprom, the Greek DEPA and French-Italian Edison signed a memorandum for building a southern route for gas supplies from Russia. This explains why now throw all efforts are directed at building an interconnecting gas connection between Bulgaria and Greece.

In a broader context, putting together the pieces of the puzzle connected to the gas woes of Russia and the European Union could mean warming of their relations after the turbulences around the crisis in Ukraine. On one hand, Brussels is increasingly aware that sanctions against Moscow already lose their effect and meaning. On the other hand, the Kremlin has realized that in order to sell and profit from export of oil and gas on the Old continent it must respect the rules of the European Union. Bulgaria can reap big benefits from such warming of relations between Brussels and Moscow. This opportunity should not be ignored.

English version Rossitsa Petcova