Balgarianovinite.com Turkiye and Azerbaijan will be required to prove that the natural gas delivered to the European Union through entry points on Bulgaria’s border is not of Russian origin, following the EU’s introduction of a full and unrestricted ban on imports of Russian gas, according to a decision of the Council of the EU published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Monday.
The Strandzha-1 / Malkoclar entry point, located on the border between Turkiye and Bulgaria, is identified as a critical interconnection point. Data from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) show that in 2025, 1.9 billion cubic metres of natural gas were delivered to Bulgaria via this route.
Near this point is also the Strandzha-2 / Malkoclar compressor station, which serves as the onshore continuation of the TurkStream offshore gas pipeline from Russia.
Regulation (EU) 2026/261 of the European Parliament and the Council states that interconnection point Strandzha-1 combines pipeline systems transporting not only gas from the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Republic of Turkiye, but also significant volumes of gas from the Russian Federation. As a result, “unambiguous evidence” will be required to demonstrate that the country of origin of the supplied gas is not Russia.
Under the regulation, gas imported into the EU through this point will be considered to be of Russian origin unless unambiguous evidence to the contrary is provided no later than seven working days before its entry into the EU customs territory. Authorities will be granted additional time to verify the submitted information.
A similar regime will apply to other compressor stations connecting the EU gas transmission network with pipelines through which significant volumes of Russian gas flow.
On January 26, the Council of the EU gave final approval to a complete ban on supplies of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU as of January 1, 2027, and on Russian pipeline gas as of September 30, 2027. The regulation enters into force on the date of its publication, February 2, 2026. Turkiye, Azerbaijan Must Prove Gas Entering EU via Bulgaria Is Not of Russian Origin 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-02 18:04:09 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law