Greece Ends Emergency Gas Supply To Bulgaria

`Transfer of gas to the Bulgarian market, that started due to the crisis, has ended as the flow of Russian gas was restored,` DEPA said.

Greece ended emergency supplies of gas to Bulgaria on Thursday after Russian gas resumed flowing to the southern Balkan countries, Greek natural gas company DEPA said on Thursday.

"Transfer of gas to the Bulgarian market, that started due to the crisis, has ended as the flow of Russian gas was restored," DEPA said in a statement.

Earlier this week Greece began transferring about 2 billion cubic meters of gas from its LNG reserves to Bulgaria, one of the worst hit countries in the Russia-Ukraine gas row.

Unlike Greece, Bulgaria is almost fully dependent on Russian gas, has no access to alternate pipeline routes, and saw supplies to houses, hospitals and schools curbed.

Greece stopped receiving Russian gas on Jan. 6, hit by the Russia-Ukraine dispute over price and debts, but faced no problem supplying its customers as it utilised reserves and increased LNG purchases off the market, DEPA said.

Greece usually gets about two-thirds to three-quarters of its gas from Russia, with the rest coming from Turkey along with LNG supplies from Africa and the spot market.