Bulgaria scraps gas transit tax

(ANSA-AFP) - SOFIA, DEC 18 - Bulgaria scrapped on Monday a tax on the transit of Russian gas through its territory after Hungary threatened to veto the country's long-time bid to join the Schengen free-travel zone. In a hasty vote, lawmakers unanimously backed a proposal to abandon the exceptional tax of 20 leva (10 euros) per megawatt hour (MWh) for Russian gas coming from the TurkStream gas pipeline that it channelled to Hungary and Serbia. The measure was approved on October 13 and aimed to "reduce the profits" of Gazprom but it turned out difficult to enforce as the Russian gas giant never paid any sum for the volumes it transited. Both Budapest and Belgrade, still heavily dependent on Russian energy sources and keen to maintain their good ties with the Kremlin, had slammed the exceptional tariff as "a hostile move" that jeopardized their energy security. Over the weekend, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto threatened to veto Bulgaria's bid to join Schengen if the country continues to maintain the tax that he said was "punitive." (ANSA-AFP).