Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry raised its voice on the need of diversifying the gas supply sources right after the first gas crisis, in 2014. But the European Union took no steps in this direction, and neither did the Bulgarian government, according to Tsvetan Simeonov, President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Europe has done nothing since then (2014). This is also valid for Bulgaria”, Simeonov stated, at the conference “Regional Approach Sofia – Energy Goes Both Ways”, organized by Energynomics.

He believes that one day, after “careful drilling”, Bulgaria could become less dependent on Russian gas. Bulgaria is almost entirely reliant on Russian gas and oil and. Gazprom supplies nearly all the country’s gas, and 60% of the oil is provided by Bulgaria’s only refinery, owned by the private Russian company Lukoil.

”But for the time being we have to cope with the situation”, he said.

Simeonov added that the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports any investment in energy efficiency as well as any idea for diminishing the administrative burden on businesses.

“The government promised to reduce the formalities for installing solar panels, but it was just a cosmetic change. We will continue to fight to reduce them”, Simeonov said.

The conference “Regional Approach Sofia – Energy Goes Both Ways” was organized by Energynomics with the support of our partners: ABB România, Electro-Service RB, Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe, Signify.