Bulgaria and Turkey will continue to cooperate to guarantee the security of energy supplies

Bulgaria and Turkey will continue their joint cooperation to guarantee the diversification and security of energy supplies. The Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov and Dr. Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey, united around this. The two held a meeting in Istanbul at the initiative of Minister Malinov in connection with the Decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria of April 19, 2024. We remind you that it instructs the Minister of Energy to take the necessary actions in order to renegotiate the Agreement between Bulgargaz EAD and the Turkish energy company Botash. In this regard, the Bulgarian side expressed a desire to revise the contract, and the Turkish side expressed understanding and willingness to continue cooperation. The energy ministers tasked the management of the two companies to start active work in connection with the agreement between "Bulgargaz" and "Botash".

The possibility of increasing the connectivity between the electricity and gas transmission systems between the two countries was also discussed. Progress was also reported after the Bulgarian gas transmission operator "Bulgartransgaz" EAD and the operator of the gas transmission system of the Republic of Turkey "Botash" signed an interconnection agreement in January this year. According to Minister Malinov, the document is of great importance for the diversification of natural gas sources not only for Bulgaria, but also for the regional and European gas markets. Turkey's gas transmission network provides access to natural gas from local fields, Azerbaijan, Iran and the global LNG market through Turkey's regasification terminals.