Bulgaria to suspend Russian gas transit for short-term contracts in 2026, prime minister says

SOFIA (Reuters) -Bulgaria will suspend Russian gas transit for short-term contracts in 2026 as part of European Union plans to cut off Russian gas imports completely, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told Bulgarian news agency BTA.

The European Union initially planned to cut off imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027, which would end decades-old energy relations with a country that was once Europe's biggest gas supplier.

But last week EU officials said the bloc planned to bring that forward by a year  

"As a member of the EU, we will join the decision to suspend, in the short term, in 2026, contracts for the use or transit of Russian natural gas, and in the long term, by 2028," BTA quoted Zhelyazkov as saying on Wednesday. 

European Union member Bulgaria, which had been totally dependent on Russian gas until 2022, has been seeking to diversify its gas supplies and find cheaper sources.

The Russian gas was substituted with Azeri gas and liquefied natural gas from a terminal in Greece.  

(Reporting by Georgi SlavovWriting by Ivana SekularacEditing by David Goodman)