Ambassador unveils details on Azerbaijani gas supply through STRING (Exclusive)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. The Memorandum of Understanding to be signed on 25 April 2023 on gas supply from Azerbaijan via Solidarity Ring will not only strengthen the energy security of Bulgaria, but also contribute to energy security of the entire region, Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Bulgaria Huseyn Huseynov said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
Moreover, the envoy believes that it will enhance the role of Bulgaria as a Balkan gas hub and positively affect the country’s gas market.
Huseynov recalled that launching of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline in 2020 enabled deliveries of Azerbaijani natural gas to the EU consumers, thus significantly contributing to the European energy security and diversification of gas supplies.
"Countries like Bulgaria, Greece, Italy started to receive gas from Shah Deniz field of Azerbaijan, considerably improving internal gas market conditions and competitiveness as well as reducing the price of gas supplies from other sources. The war in Ukraine further aggravated the energy crisis in European continent. In this situation the Azerbaijani leadership once again showed its solidarity with the European partners and singed the Memorandum of Understanding between Azerbaijan and the EU in July 2022 on increasing the imports of Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe from initially planned 10 BCM to 20 BCM by the end of 2027. Azerbaijan has already exported 11.4 BCM of gas to the European market in 2022, which is expected to reach 12 BCM at the end of this year," said the ambassador.
He pointed out that all these changes provided the basis for Solidarity Ring (STRING) initiative put forward by the government of Bulgaria to facilitate the transportation of the additional volumes of natural gas from Azerbaijan and potentially other sources of supply.
"The aim of the initiative is to bring together Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to deliver the natural gas from Azerbaijan to European countries using the existing natural gas transportation infrastructure of the aforementioned countries. For this purpose, it is planned to use gas transit networks of Bulgaria's "Bulgartransgaz", Romania's "Transgaz", Hungary's "FGSZ" and Slovakia's "EUSTREAM". In this regard, Azerbaijan and Turkiye will play a key role in delivery and transportation of additional gas volumes," Huseynov explained.
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