Bulgarian president: Azerbaijan proven to be reliable partner for Europe

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has said that Azerbaijan, represented by President Ilham Aliyev, has proven itself a reliable partner for Europe.

He made the remarks while answering journalists' questions before the summit of the European political community, Report informs.

"We managed to realize the European vision of additional gas supplies, additional volumes of Azerbaijani gas to Europe in order to translate this vision into a very productive project that is feasible. This additional amount of gas is supplied from Azerbaijan to Türkiye and Greece to Bulgaria, Romania. We have united gas network capacities and now we have all the necessary conditions for Azerbaijani gas to reach the countries of Central and Eastern Europe", said the Bulgarian President, calling it an important achievement for energy security.

"This is a serious contribution to political relations between Azerbaijan and the EU. We have completed the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector, now we receive volumes of Azerbaijani gas in Bulgaria, and we started building another interconnector between Bulgaria and Serbia," Rumen Radev noted.

The volumes of Azerbaijani natural gas delivered via the Bulgaria-Greece (IGB) interconnector cover about 27 per cent of Bulgaria’s needs and are of key importance in achieving favourable prices for the blue fuel.

The Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (EWRC) approved the price of natural gas for the month of January in the amount of BGN 179.33 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which is 22.75 per cent more than the price of the blue fuel for December.

The Bulgaria-Greece gas pipeline was put into commercial operation in early October 2022. IGB provides for the transportation of gas to Bulgaria produced within the second stage of operation of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.