Bulgaria no longer relies on Russian oil and instead imports it from three new countries, including Iraq and Kazakhstan

Bulgaria replaced its imported crude oil from Russia with imports from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Tunisia in January 2024, according to data released by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), a British securities and financial information company.

In December 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions aiming to reduce the member states’ imports of Russian crude oil by 90% in order to halt Moscow’s funding of the war machine it is deploying in Ukraine.

Bulgaria is moving forward in its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian oil as part of its strategy to diversify fuel supply sources, in a broader plan to enhance energy security, Reuters reported.

It is expected that Bulgaria will receive four shipments so far in January 2024. One shipment will be 76,000 tons or around 540,000 barrels of light Basra crude oil. Two shipments will each have a volume of 70,000 metric tons or 497,000 barrels, consisting of a blend of Kazakhstani crude oil for export. Another shipment will have a volume of 50,000 tons or 355,000 barrels, which is a blend of the Qazvin pipeline union. Lastly, there will be a shipment of 33,000 tons or approximately 234,000 barrels of Tunisian oil.