Energy Ministers of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria – Pyarviz Shakhbazov and Rosen Christ held a telephone conversation, the parties discussed the timing of the start of commercial supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria for IGB pipeline.
The report of the Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria says that during a conversation, Shakhbazov assured Christ that from October 1, 2022, Azerbaijani gas will enter Bulgaria on IGB interconnector (Greece-Bolgaria).
“Another topic that was affected in the conversation was the technical possibility of supplying additional gas volumes to Bulgaria (in excess of the coordinated volumes – IF),” the interfax -Azerbaijan quotes.
The Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria notes that last week Christ announced that it resumes negotiations with Azerbaijan about increasing natural gas supplies to Bulgaria in order to ensure and guarantee the necessary volumes for the heating season.
Bulgaria is currently one of the three countries of the European Union who buy gas from Azerbaijan. Earlier, the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Pyarviz Shakhbazov said that in 2022, gas supplies to Bulgaria will be 600 million cubic meters.
The construction of the Greece – Bulgaria interconnector was completed in July 2022. IGB commissioning will allow Bulgaria to increase gas supply from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria to 1 billion cubic meters per year.