Bulgaria to "Postpone" Shale Gas Development

Bulgaria's ruling party has agreed to support a temporary moratorium on shale gas exploration and development.

The statement was made by Valentin Nikolov, deputy head of the center-right party GERB, during Monday's meeting of the Parliamentary Energy Committee.

Nikolov stated that the moratorium would be in place until the Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism and the Ministry of Environment and Waters, prepared appropriate legislative amendments safeguarding the environment which would be adopted by Parliament.

The decision by the government follows protests focusing on the process of hydraulic fracturing which took place in several cities during the past weekend.

A proposal on the temporary moratorium is expected to be proposed to Parliament on Wednesday.