Bulgaria

THE European Union’s eastern states are demanding that the EU impose import duties on Ukraine grains, citing unfair competition, Hungary’s agricultural ministry said on Monday (Jan 15).

INFURIATED by the West’s supply of arms and other support to help Ukraine resist invading Russian troops, Moscow on Tuesday (Apr 26) took the fight to Europe’s economy, telling Poland and Bulgaria that it was halting supplies of natural gas, on which both countries and Europe in general are heavily dependent.

EUROPE should stop depending on Russia for trade after Moscow halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for not paying in roubles, Ukraine said, as the shutoff exposed the continent’s weaknesses and divisions on Wednesday. The decision, denounced by European leaders as “blackmail”, comes as Russia’s own economy wilts under sanctions and Western countries are sending more arms to Kyiv despite warnings from the Kremlin to back off. Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly, suspended gas supplies “due to absence of payments in roubles”, as stipulated in a decree from Russian President Vladimir Putin that aims to soften the impact of sanctions. “The sooner everyone in Europe recognises that they cannot depend on Russia for trade, the sooner it will be possible to guarantee stability in European markets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Wednesday. While the president of the European Commission said Gazprom’s move was “yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail”, EU member state ambassadors asked the executive for clearer guidance on whether sending euros breached sanctions. France will host a meeting of EU energy ministers on May 2 to discuss how to deal with Russia’s move. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia remained a reliable energy supplier and denied it was engaging in blackmail. He declined to say how many countries had agreed to switch to paying for gas in roubles but other European customers said gas supplies were flowing normally. On the battlefield, Ukraine reported that Russian troops had made gains in the east. Russia reported a number of blasts on its side of the border, and a blaze at an arms depot. Kyiv called the explosions “karma”. Ukraine said Russian forces had used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a pro-Ukraine rally in Kherson, the first big city it has seized. A series of powerful explosions caused by rockets hit the centre of Kherson late on Wednesday, Ria News agency reported. The invasion of Ukraine has reduced towns and cities to rubble, and forced more than five million people to flee abroad in a conflict that has prompted fears of wider conflict in the West, unthought of for decades. Moscow calls it a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies call the war an unprovoked act of aggression. Recession fears

THE European Union warned Russia on Wednesday it would not bend to “blackmail” over its support for Kyiv, after the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. The warning came as UN chief Antonio Guterres arrived in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Putin issued his own warning on Wednesday, saying that if Western forces intervene in Ukraine, they will face a “lightning-fast” military response. “We have all the tools for this, that no one else can boast of having,” the Russian leader told lawmakers, implicitly referring to Moscow’s ballistic missiles and nuclear arsenal. “We won’t boast about it: we’ll use them, if needed. And I want everyone to know that,” he said. “We have already taken all the decisions on this.”

[SOFIA] Three consortiums have submitted bids in a US$1.6 billion tender to build a pipeline to carry Russian natural gas across Bulgaria, state-owned network operator Bulgartransgaz said on Thursday.

[BRUSSELS] Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest country, moved a step closer to joining the euro on Thursday.

[SOFIA, Bulgaria] Every day for the past 20 years, Lyudmil Kutev has lumbered three stories down the crumbling concrete steps of his Sofia apartment, descended into a basement Cold War bunker packed floor to ceiling with shoes, and swung open a rusty window panel just inches from the sidewalk.

THE Bulgarian villagers hunker over their books, struggling with their Mandarin words and characters. But they are not going to China - the Middle Kingdom is coming to them. Because of yoghurt.

[SOFIA] Bulgaria's jobless rate declined for a fifth consecutive month in July to 6.7 per cent, down from 6.8 per cent in June and 8.2 in the same month last year, data from the state employment agency showed on Tuesday.