Brussels/Sofia, 28 April 2022,
Following yesterday’s announcement by Gazprom on the disruption of gas deliveries to Bulgaria, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev had a series of meetings in the Commission.
Resulting from today’s meetings, the European Commission and Bulgaria agreed to set up in Sofia a first regional task force, as part of the EU’s Energy Purchase Platform. This pilot will look at gas and electricity needs, prices and flows, as well as infrastructure aspects,
The regional taskf orce will concentrate on the year ahead and provide specific regional expertise and know-how to develop and implement the REPowerEU action plan to reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels, fill storage ahead of next winter and further accelerate the decarbonisation of the energy sector. It will support and coordinate the implementation of the joint preparedness plans in the region, including international purchase, storage and interconnections – thus contributing to the security of supply in Bulgaria, the region, the energy community and beyond.
Bulgaria will reach out to countries in its neighbourhood on this task force and will organise the first ministerial meeting on 5 May.
The work of the task force will notably build on the European Commission’s preparations for a number of energy disruption scenarios, in close coordination and solidarity with the Member States and international partners. It will present the REPowerEU plan next month.
More information is available online in English, and will be available in French, German and Bulgarian shortly.