In a pivotal shift for Eastern European energy flows, Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz has signed its first-ever gas supply agreement with Azerbaijan’s state-run SOCAR, leveraging the Trans-Balkan corridor to bypass Russian infrastructure for the trial delivery of Azerbaijani gas routed through Bulgaria and Romania directly into Ukraine. The shipment marks Ukraine’s formal entry into the Trans-Balkan gas network as an importer, rather than merely a transit country, with Naftogaz GEO Serhiy Koretskyi describing it in a statement…