SOFIA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria, hard hit by a Kiev-Moscow gas row, will start importing up to 2.5 million cubic metres of gas per day from Greece on Monday, the Bulgarian economy ministry said.
The two countries' gas companies reached an agreement earlier on Monday and Bulgaria will receive gas from Greece for a period of seven days, which could be shortened or extended, the ministry said in a statement.
"At 16.00 (1400 GMT) today, the gradual gas deliveries from Greece to Bulgaria begin," the statement said.
The gas will come from a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Athens and be shipped through the transit pipeline which usually carries Russian gas to the Balkans, said Atanas Saikov, who is on a special crisis council at the economy ministry.
Bulgaria, almost fully dependent on Russian gas, has been left without any deliveries since Jan. 6 and is under pressure to secure supplies as its stocks are running out, dozens of factories have shut down and anger among Bulgarians is mounting.
Officials at Bulgaria's state gas monopoly Bulgargaz will travel to Turkey on Tuesday for talks with Ankara on possible gas imports, the ministry said.
It said last week that Turkey had proposed to provide Bulgaria with 500,000 cubic metres per day, but that the details of a deal were yet to be agreed.
Bulgaria is now covering about a third of its daily gas needs of some 12 mcm with deliveries from its sole storage facility but flows have started to decline and will drop further in the coming days, officials have said.
"The deliveries from Greece will allow us to avoid further drastic cuts to industrial users," Saikov said.
Russia and Ukraine aim to sign an agreement on Monday to restart gas flows to Europe after finally agreeing a price for 2009, potentially ending a dispute that has severed supplies to 18 countries for nearly two weeks.
Bulgarian economy ministry officials say that Russian gas could reach the Balkan country on Thursday or Friday if Moscow and Kiev seal their deal on Monday. (Reporting by Anna Mudeva, editing by Anthony Barker)

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