Bulgaria has managed to avoid yielding to Gazprom’s demands for changes in the long-term contract for transit passage of Russian gas through the country. These demands are likely to be repeated soon, as Gazprom has been negotiating lower transit taxes for a long time, Economy Minister Roumen Ovcharov said on his return from Moscow. Ovcharov met representatives of Russia’s Gazprom, RAO EES and Atomstroyexport, which is participating in the tender for Belene nuclear power plant project.

So far, Bulgaria does not have a natural gas supplier other than Gazprom, Ovcharov said. The Nabucco pipeline project is an alternative that will start functioning at the earliest in 2011, mediapool.bg reported.

Bulgaria is not a big country that can oppose Gazprom and a balance of interests and co-operation with the Russian company have to be achieved, said Ovcharov. Bulgaria might yield to Russian demands if Gazprom guarantees benefits in the future, he said.