Bulgargaz has signed a long-term agreement with Turkish gas company Botas for access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Turkey and the transit of gas to the Bulgarian border, the Government in Sofia announced, according to Reuters.

Russia, which covered more than 95% of Bulgaria’s gas needs, cut off supplies to Sofia in April because payments in rubles were not done anymore. Now, Bulgaria is looking for new sources of gas supply.

Last month, Bulgaria’s interim Energy Minister, Rossen Hristov, said that talks between Bulgargaz and the Turkish company Botas are progressing quickly and he hopes that an agreement will be reached soon.

“We are negotiating to reserve capacity of one billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year at the LNG terminals in Turkey and for gas transit through the Botas network to our border. This agreement is extremely important as we have enough offers for transport vessels LNG. What we don’t have is a place to unload them. We are firmly determined not to be dependent on Russia anymore,” said Hristov, according to Agerpres.

Bulgaria wants to reserve capacity at Turkey’s LNG terminals by 2026 to import one billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas per year. The capacity for 2023 will be lower, as Bulgargaz has already booked a terminal in Greece.