BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary has asked the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over a new fee it has imposed on Russian gas transit shipments, EU affairs minister Janos Boka said in a post on Facebook on Friday.
Bulgaria introduced the new transit fee of about 10 euros per MWh of Russian gas last month, prompting strong criticism from Hungary and Serbia.
Hungary, which receives most of the gas it needs from Russia via the Turkstream pipeline from the south, has said the tax would put the safe supply of energy at risk in both Hungary and Serbia.
While countries in western Europe have been weaning themselves off Russian gas, landlocked Hungary has been receiving at least 4.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia under a long-term deal signed in 2021, mainly via Bulgaria and Serbia.
Boka said Hungary believed the new Bulgarian fee ran contrary to the EU’s rules on internal markets and the customs union and common trade policy.
“Today I have sent a letter to the European Commission asking it to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria without delay,” Boka said. He has asked the EU executive to call on Bulgaria to suspend the fee until the procedure is completed, he added.
Boka said if the Commission failed to take action, Hungary would take the case to the EU’s court before the end of the year.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
