The Black Sea is the second region after Hormuz that could threaten global oil prices. This was stated in an interview with the program “The Day Live” on Nova News by the former director of the Bulgarian Energy Holding Valentin Nikolov.
He expressed some doubts about whether the deal between Trump and Putin for the so-called “energy truce” will ever come into physical force.
“We see that both Democrats and Republicans are uniting to draft a joint bill to stop it. There is huge opposition. They should also appreciate the fact that about 70% of Americans support Ukraine,” he noted, explaining that this would have the potential to have a negative political impact on Trump in connection with the midterm elections in the United States.
“There are two aspects to the deal: the physical supply of fuel to Bulgaria and Europe and the prices. That is, it may be available, but at a very high price, which will also harm the economy. Yes, it will fill the budget with good revenues from excise and indirect taxes, but on the other hand, the economy will begin to experience great difficulties and will not be able to realize its business plans. For Bulgaria, the bigger problem for physical supply is the attacks on ships in the Black Sea. The majority of supplies come from Kazakhstan, that is, in fact, from its outlet to the Black Sea, to Bulgaria. That is, they pass through the East-West direction of the Black Sea. If insurance increases or the situation worsens even more, this will be a physical problem for supplies and for Bulgaria,” Nikolov pointed out.
According to him, the lifting of the ban on diesel exports, which was introduced by Bulgarian deputies, creates instability in the market in Bulgaria.
Nikolov also commented that Saudi Arabia's threats to Russia remain more on paper.