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| A European country has completely cut off Russian oil nearly a year before the exemption expires. In the photo: A Russian oil loading port. (Source: themoscowtimes.com) |
The Balkan country's plan to cut off Russian oil supplies is expected to cut imports by 50% starting in January and by a further 25% starting in February. Bulgarian traders said in February they would replace Russian oil imports with crude from Kazakhstan, Iraq and Tunisia.
In late 2022, the EU granted Bulgaria, a member state of the union, a two-year exemption from the Russian crude oil embargo, which was originally scheduled to last until the end of 2024.
However, the Bulgarian parliament voted in December 2023 to end all imports of Russian crude oil starting from March 1, 2024.
Experts have previously warned that Bulgaria could struggle to source crude once the EU waiver ends due to a lack of suitable port infrastructure and congestion in the Bosphorus Strait.
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict more than two years ago, Bulgaria has accelerated its search for ways to diversify its energy supplies to end its near-total dependence on Russia.
Bulgaria has been historically close to Russia and was almost entirely dependent on oil and gas imports from Moscow before the country launched its special military operation in Ukraine.
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