An image of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Buffy, a Bulgarian Shepherd dog he received as a gift from Bulgaria's PM Borisov in November of 2010, has delivered joy to the latter, Euronews writes.

A "Putin calendar" released last year shows a picture of the Russian President (who was Prime Minister at the time of his visit) holding Buffy tight, with the text above reading: "Dogs and I have very warm feelings for each other".

Bulgarian media outlets reported on the very day of his visit that he had already developed a fondness for the puppy.

On Monday, Borisov told Bulgarian private bTV station that Buffy's appearance in the calendar meant "Putin loves us" and that Russians realized Bulgaria is "more predictable" than other EU member states, adhering to rules unlike them.

There are only 200 000 copies of the calendar which shows a different side of Putin every month.

Putin was in Sofia in 2010 to discuss energy affairs with Boyko Borisov at a time when two of the three large-scale energy infrastructure projects involving Russia, the South Stream gas pipeline and the Belene nuclear plant, were to be built. The latter was ditched by Putin at the end of 2014 while Belene was abandoned by Borisov a year before his resignation in 2013.