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Bulgaria looks to Turkey for help with gas shortage

Russia has cut gas exports to Bulgaria, leaving Sofia looking to Ankara, which has some tough decisions to make.

NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images
The logo of Russia's energy giant Gazprom is pictured at one of its petrol stations in Sofia on April 27, 2022. — NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia's decision to halt gas exports to Bulgaria on April 27 has left Sofia looking to its next-door neighbors Turkey and Greece to help bridge the gap.

Turkey boasts direct pipeline connections to Bulgaria and Greece, both of which could be used to supply Bulgaria, but a number of technical and legislative issues will have to be overcome first. More importantly, Ankara will have to decide whether it wants to risk angering Russia, Turkey's biggest gas supplier, by helping a country Moscow is in dispute with.

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