Greece, gateway for natural gas
The Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov appeared during the inspection, the day before yesterday, together with the Greek Minister of Energy Konstantinos Skrekas – Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not attend due to COVID – of the Greek section of the IGB gas interconnector under construction in the Komo area. And he did not fail to “nail”, not in such a diplomatic way is the truth, the Greek side for the (existing) delays the implementation of the project within its territory.
“I am angry that this winter the price of gas was (in his country) so strong due to the fact that the project was not completed,” he told Bulgarian media, expressing hope that “if the pipeline is completed in end of June (s.s. as promised by the Greek side) the Azeri gas that “operates” in September.
The Bulgarian prime minister was right to be indignant. If ours had not delayed the construction of our division, his country would have negotiated differently with Gazprom, since through the IGB, which also received Azeri gas, so it did not need the Russians so much.
Now that Europe is accelerating Europe’s processes of energy independence from Russia, Greece will be called upon to play the role of a gateway to gas from alternative sources to countries behind its northern borders and deeper into central Europe. Through the IGB interconnector from the height of Komotini, where the Azeri gas will intersect with the TAP pipeline, together with the shale that will enter the pipe outside Alexandroupolis, it will “fall” into the Bulgarian network and from there it will flow to R . , Slovakia, Hungary, maybe even Ukraine. Outside Thessaloniki, another pipeline under construction will also transport gas from Russia to TAP, gas to northern Macedonia, with the prospect of reaching Kosovo or Serbia. Greece is therefore strongly connected with the energy changes in Europe and even more strongly with the Balkan countries.
With the interconnection pipelines, the ports on the coasts of Northern Greece, the floating liquefied natural gas (FSRU) regasification stations off Alexandroupolis, the large TAP pipeline, our country is emerging as a strong energy hub and only high.
The opportunity, therefore, to return to the Balkans, from which he has been “away” in recent years, is unique. And it should not be lost with infrastructure delays (IGB) and ideologies (Northern Macedonia, Kosovo) etc.