Azerbaijan promises secure and long-term gas supplies to Bulgaria
Azerbaijan is the initiator of the big project for the Southern Gas Corridor, through which Azerbaijani gas is already supplied to the Balkans. This was stated to the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov.
He says that Bulgaria is one of the countries that receive this gas directly through the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector.
Azerbaijan has a long-term project with your country, in accordance with this agreement, we will have long-term supplies of natural gas directly from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria through other infrastructure, the Minister commented.
According to him the interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece is an absolutely important unit in the Southern Gas Corridor project, As a start, seven countries participated in this project, including Bulgaria. At the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor, this interconnector is of great importance, Shahbazov’s category.
He appeared that Bulgaria has a sufficiently extensive network of interconnectors with its neighbors. “So, if Azerbaijani gas enters the Bulgarian market and today it is already delivered to this market, then when the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector is ready, supplies will increase. And, of course, through Bulgaria Azerbaijani gas will be able to through other interconnectors. will end up in neighboring countries, “the minister explained.
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He points out that within the Southern Gas Corridor with signed long-term contracts and Azerbaijan, not only under these agreements, but throughout the history of its activities in the field of energy bargaining, has always fulfilled its obligations. “We have long-term contracts within the Southern Gas Corridor. They have been signed for years to come, some of them for twenty-five years, so that within their framework Azerbaijan will fulfill its obligations, this will be safe and long-term“, Shahbazov assured.
Asked if Azerbaijan was ready to increase the amount of gas for Europe and in particular for the Western Balkans, he said that the Southern Gas Corridor had been designed in such a way that the capacity to supply energy resources, in this case natural gas, can be doubled.
So now we are working to expand the Southern Gas Corridor and when this infrastructure is provided in line, of course within the project, we we will increase the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europethe minister promised.
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Asked where Bulgaria is on the Azerbaijani energy map, Shahbazov said through the Southern Gas Corridor project, Bulgaria is a direct partner for Azerbaijan.
I want to increase the amount of gas through the gas interconnector with Greece, the Minister is possible that he will work for this to increase the supplies of the agreed natural gas by the end of the year and in order to achieve the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria to be put into operation. All this will be done appropriately and the supply of the agreed natural gas to Bulgaria will be increased.
Is it a question of Azerbaijan and other energy projects to provide in Bulgaria and the Balkans, Shahbazov explained that it all depends on what energy projects are in question.
“Today, I believe that we are all committed to the issue of the full implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor. Once the first phase of this project is completed, I think we can, in the framework of bilateral contacts and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, we should also consider other projects, such as projects in the field of green energy “, he commented.