Shale gas, Bulgaria and the tortoise that beats the hare in the end

In brief

Comparing Botev's landing with today's quest for independence, the author says shale gas returns like a "zombie" before every election. The moratorium was imposed over Gazprom's interests, but shale is not a solution today – Poland failed to produce, the risks are environmental and seismic, and the technology is imported and costly. He reads Pompeo's visit as an "active measure" and proposes alternatives: coalbed methane, stakes in foreign upstream projects, deeper integration with the Western bloc.