The presidential gas initiative Solidarity Ring will provide new opportunities for the transfer of gas from Azerbaijan to Southeast Europe

George Velev

Bulgaria has become the center of the new Solidarity Ring gas initiative. In order to increase the security of supplies, several countries from the South-Eastern Europe region signed an agreement today in Sofia to improve gas connectivity. The new memorandum was signed in the presence of the presidents of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan - Rumen Radev and Ilham Aliyev. The aim of the Solidarity Ring initiative launched by President Radev is to increase the security of natural gas supplies to the European Union with minimal effort in close cooperation with Azerbaijan, Greece and Turkey.

The document was signed by the Bulgarian Acting Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov, the Minister of Energy of Romania Virgil-Daniel Popescu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Sijarto, the Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic Karel Hirman and the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov.

The memorandum aims to reach an understanding to promote cooperation between the operators of the gas transmission systems of Bulgaria ("Bulgartransgaz"), Romania (Transgaz), Hungary (FGSZ), Slovakia (Eustream), as well as the state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The document is about the Solidarity Ring (String initiative), proposed by Bulgaria and supported by the European Commission. In his video message, the European Commissioner for Energy Affairs, Kadri Simson, also gave support to the initiative.

Energy security can never be achieved in a single country. Security must be achieved in the region and across Europe. Bulgaria is actively working in this direction, explained the Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov. "The global challenges we are facing in recent months require a global effort. It doesn't matter how powerful a country's economy is or its geographical location, if we want to achieve security, we must work for security of energy supplies and a green transition," Minister Hristov said.

"Thank you for the political support of the presidents to speed up this process. In parallel, we are working on additional initiatives in order to expand the scope of countries from the region to join the initiative," explained Minister Hristov. He also thanked the fellow ministers from other countries, with whom they exchange experience on a daily basis and look for flexible solutions to improve gas security. Minister Hristov also announced that we will soon sign a new document in this direction.

He described the now-signed memorandum as a "serious step to improve energy security." "We have shown that together the countries of the region can meet the challenges and cope," the Bulgarian energy minister added.

The Republic of Azerbaijan is a strategic partner not only of Bulgaria, but also of the European Union. This was stated by the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev during the signing. According to him, the memorandum signed today strengthens our partnership in a successful way and will lead to the discovery of new opportunities, Radev pointed out. He thanked the EC, as well as Turkey and Greece, which also support the initiative. However, representatives of their gas transmission operators were not present at the signing today.

The participants in the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on the promotion of cooperation between Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), Eustream (Slovakia) and SOCAR (Azerbaijan). Source: BTA.

The Solidarity Ring gas initiative is currently more political in nature and the first studies will be done on the technical and economic possibilities for its development. It is expected that the supply of about 5 billion cubic meters of new Azerbaijani gas will cost a total of 1 billion euros for all countries of the initiative.

Radev also announced that today the state oil company of Azerbaijan already has a European license to trade in natural gas. It was issued in Bulgaria by the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation. This step allows the Azerbaijani company to be a supplier of natural gas in our country. SOCAR also opened its first office in Bulgaria today.

We remind you that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is visiting Bulgaria at the invitation of the Head of State Rumen Radev. The official delegation led by him in Sofia included representatives of the government of Azerbaijan.

The signing of the memorandum today will have greater security and supply of gas to many more countries in Europe. This was said by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev after the signing of the document.

Azerbaijan's goal is to double gas supplies to Europe and reach 16 billion cubic meters by 2027. We plan to deliver 12 billion cubic meters of gas to our European partners this year, it became clear from Aliyev's words. Expectations are that after 2027, supplies will rise further and reach 24-25 billion cubic meters.

Azerbaijan is an important partner of Europe not only for the supply of natural gas, Aliyev also said. The country is ready to help the EU in the green transition by already starting massive production of green energy from solar plants. The production and transfer of green hydrogen is also planned in the future, and all this will be in cooperation with European partners.