Greece to help Bulgaria after Russia cuts gas supply

"The prime minister said that Greece will help Bulgaria to deal with the new situation caused by the Russian decisions on energy," Mitsotakis' office said in a statement, without providing further details. Russian gas producer Gazprom's said on Wednesday it had halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for failing to pay for gas in roubles, the Kremlin's toughest retaliation yet to international sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Greece will offer help to Bulgaria after Russia cut off its gas supply, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told his Bulgarian counterpart on Wednesday.

The two leaders discussed the issue by phone. "The prime minister said that Greece will help Bulgaria to deal with the new situation caused by the Russian decisions on energy," Mitsotakis' office said in a statement, without providing further details.

Russian gas producer Gazprom's said on Wednesday it had halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for failing to pay for gas in roubles, the Kremlin's toughest retaliation yet to international sanctions over the war in Ukraine. A Greek source close to the matter told Reuters that Athens could help Sofia by reversing the flow of the TurkStream pipeline, a mechanism that has been used before. The pipeline brings in Russian gas to Greece via the Black Sea, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Mitsotakis said a long-delayed gas link between the two neighbors, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), should be ready by June, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said. "He (Mitsotakis) also confirmed joint actions for diversification through liquefied natural gas," Petkov added.

Mitsotakis called an emergency meeting on Wednesday with energy sector representatives to discuss the impact of Gazprom's decision on Greece's gas supply, his office said. Greece relies on Russian gas for more than 30% of its annual energy needs and its next payment to Gazprom is due in May under a contract that expires in 2026.

Athens has not clarified yet how it will make the payment but it has said that it may be able to indefinitely avoid gas supply problems, even if Russia halts flows. Under a contingency plan, Greece has said it could get additionally liquefied and pipeline gas from Azerbaijan and switch four gas-fired electricity plants to diesel. It will also ramp up coal mining in the next two years as a temporary measure.