(ANSA-AFP) - SOFIA, DEC 18 - Bulgaria scrapped on Monday a
tax on the transit of Russian gas through its territory after
Hungary threatened to veto the country's long-time bid to join
the Schengen free-travel zone. In a hasty vote, lawmakers
unanimously backed a proposal to abandon the exceptional tax of
20 leva (10 euros) per megawatt hour (MWh) for Russian gas
coming from the TurkStream gas pipeline that it channelled to
Hungary and Serbia. The measure was approved on October 13 and
aimed to "reduce the profits" of Gazprom but it turned out
difficult to enforce as the Russian gas giant never paid any sum
for the volumes it transited. Both Budapest and Belgrade, still
heavily dependent on Russian energy sources and keen to maintain
their good ties with the Kremlin, had slammed the exceptional
tariff as "a hostile move" that jeopardized their energy
security. Over the weekend, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter
Szijjarto threatened to veto Bulgaria's bid to join Schengen if
the country continues to maintain the tax that he said was
"punitive." (ANSA-AFP).
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