Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev asked Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to supply more natural gas, saying integrating the gas networks of a number of European countries will help them to increase imports from the Caspian region.
(Bloomberg) —
Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev asked Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to supply more natural gas, saying integrating the gas networks of a number of European countries will help them to increase imports from the Caspian region.
Radev said Bulgaria plans to connect its gas grid with those of Romania, Hungary and Slovakia in order to boost natural gas shipments from Azerbaijan.
“Now the decision is yours,” he told Aliyev, according to a statement from the Azerbaijani president’s office.
Radev was in the Azerbaijani capital but couldn’t meet Aliyev in person as a member of the Bulgarian delegation had tested positive for Covid-19, Aliyev’s office said. The leaders talked by video conference.
Azerbaijan started exporting natural gas to Italy, Greece and Bulgaria via the Southern Gas Corridor chain of pipelines in December 2020. Exports to Europe are expected to increase to 12 billion cubic meters this year from 11.4 billion cubic meters in 2022.
Bulgaria was expected to buy 600 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan last year.
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