MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti) - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov is due to pay a visit to Moscow on February 4-6, with talks on gas compensation likely to be one of the issues under discussion.

The Kremlin said Monday that Parvanov would visit Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev.

Bulgaria's ambassador to Russia, Plamen Grozdanov, said at a RIA Novosti press conference on Monday that Bulgaria hoped to discuss compensation for gas it failed to obtain from Russia during January's gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

"This issue will be discussed. I don't know whether it will be called compensation, but this issue will be touched upon," he said.

The leaders are also expected to open the Year of Bulgaria in Russia with a show at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater on Thursday.

Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 after talks on debt and prices for 2009 broke down in late December and halted gas flow to Europe a week later, saying Ukraine was stealing transit gas.

President Dmitry Medvedev earlier said that Bulgaria had indicated it would seek compensation for shortfalls in Russian gas supplies caused by the debt and price dispute with Ukraine. He also said responsibility for the disruption lay entirely with Kiev.

Bulgaria earlier estimated damage caused by the shortfalls at 250 million euros (about $320 million) and demanded compensation from Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom. Medvedev said in Sofia that Gazprom could supply the contract-stipulated volume of gas to the Balkan state at a discounted price instead of paying the compensation.

The Russian and Ukrainian premiers and the chiefs of Gazprom and Ukraine's energy company Naftogaz signed a deal to resume gas supplies on January 19, following uneasy talks mediated by the European Union.