Bulgargaz Head Leaves for Moscow over Potential New Gas Crisis

The CEO of Bulgaria's gas monopoly Bulgargaz, Dimitar Gogov, is leaving for the Russian capital Moscow Monday for talks with Gazprom over a potential new natural gas crisis.

As the Ukraine is supposed to pay for its May Russian gas supplies by June 9, and its gas company Naftogaz is short of funds, fears emerged in parts of Europe that a new Russian gas cutoff might ensue similar to the one in January 2009.

Gogov's visit to Moscow is at the invitation of the Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller, which was received Friday. Bulgargaz's talks with Gazprom will be centered around discussing the opportunities to avoid the worst consequences of a potential Russian decision to stop gas transit through Ukraine's territory.

Bulgargaz has announced that it has requested explanation of the situation from all of its suppliers, including the Ukrainian Naftogaz.

Top Ukrainian officials have tried to assure those concerned that all due payments would be deposited to Gazprom's accounts on time. Bulgaria's Energy and Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov has in turn assured the Bulgarian public and business that the country had sufficient natural gas reserves, and there was no need to be concerned over the situation.