Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 22
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project will be significantly expanded through the construction of additional interconnectors in Europe, said Bulgarian Energy Minister Nikolay Pavlov.
He made the remarks at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Natig Aliyev in Baku Feb. 22, reads a message from Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry.
A Bulgarian delegation, comprised of representatives of Bulgarian Energy Holding, Bulgargaz, ICGB AD and officials of Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry, is in Azerbaijan.
During the meeting, Natig Aliyev said presence of so many officials shows the good attitude towards the SGC project and called energy cooperation an important area of bilateral relations.
“Timely implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project to a large extent depends on the relations between the cooperating countries. Bulgaria’s position in this project is very important,” Aliyev said, adding that the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) will expand geography of transportation of the Azerbaijani gas.
Pavlov, for his part, noted that through the IGB, Bulgaria will in 2020 start annually receiving one billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz field.
“Besides, it is planned to start the construction of the Bulgaria-Serbia Interconnector before May 2019 and commission it before late 2020. Thus, significant expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor will be ensured with help of the gas from Azerbaijan’s Absheron field and others, as well as with help of additional gas interconnectors,” he said.
The parties also exchanged views on the Balkan gas storage facility project, as well as Azerbaijan's participation in the Bulgarian oil products market.