Azerbaijan, Baku, March 17 / Trend A.Badalova /
Bulgaria and Turkey will discuss the opportunities to construct a short pipeline connecting two countries' domestic gas networks during Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's visit to Ankara next week, Hurriyet Daily News reported with the reference to diplomatic sources.
According to the source, the project envisages the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria in emergency cases, as an alternative to Russian gas. The source added that Bulgaria has already reached a preliminary agreement with Azerbaijan to buy at least one billion cubic meters of gas annually.
It is planned that the length of the proposed pipeline will be about 80 kilometers, and it will be laid from Turkey's northwestern Thrace region to Bulgaria's southern city of Haskovo.
The source said that the talks on this issue are still at an early stage, but a memorandum of understanding could be signed during Borisov's visit if progress is achieved.
Azerbaijan and Turkey are currently considering the construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border - Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). It is expected that the initial capacity of a pipeline will be 16 billion cubic metres per year. Some 6 billion cubic meters of the volume will be allocated to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have already signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the consortium that will build TANAP for gas supply from Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey. The parties involved in the project intend to resolve all issues on this gas pipeline in 2012. They also plan to commence construction immediately to complete it by late 2017.
Azerbaijan and Turkey are going to sign an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP next week.