site.btaPresident Plevneliev to Visit Azerbaijan for Groundbreaking Ceremony of Southern Gas Corridor

ESD 17:07:07 18-09-2014
DS1706ES.122
122 POLITICS-AZERBAIJAN-BULGARIAN PRESIDENT-VISIT-FORTHCOMING

President Plevneliev to Visit
Azerbaijan for Groundbreaking
Ceremony of Southern Gas Corridor


Sofia, September 18 (BTA) - President Rosen Plevneliev will pay
a working visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, on September 19 and 20, his
press secretariat said Thursday. Economy and Energy Minister
Vassil Shtonov is also on the Bulgarian delegation.

On Friday, Plevneliev will confer with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev, followed by talks between the two countries'
delegations.

On Saturday, the head of State will attend the official
groundbreaking ceremony of the Southern Gas Corridor, together
with representatives of Albania, the UK, Georgia, Greece, Italy,
the US, Turkey, and Montenegro.

As part of the visit, bilateral talks will be held to discuss
the key matters for securing the diversification of gas supplies
to Bulgaria, Southeastern Europe and the EU, as well as the
implementation of joint gas projects.

The construction of the Southern Gas Corridor will create the
opportunity to diversify the supplies to Bulgaria, the region of
Southeastern Europe and the EU, will increase the safety of gas
supplies and will reduce Bulgaria's and the region's high
energy dependence, the press release reads.

The implementation of the EU's Southern Gas Corridor projects
will provide the route for the negotiated alternative gas
supplies from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria through Turkey and Greece
from the Shah Deniz 2 deposit. This will create competition
between the various sources and suppliers of natural gas for
Bulgaria, thus allowing real liberalization of the gas market
and promotion of more competitive prices for Bulgarian
consumers.

The Bulgarian projects for intersystem gas connectors with
Greece (IGB) and Turkey (ITB) are an integral part of the
Southern Gas Corridor's infrastructure.

This autumn a final investment decision will be taken on the
construction of an interconnector from Komotini in Greece to
Dimitrovgrad in Bulgaria, the press release recalls. The gas
connection between the two countries is expected to be built in
2016.

LN/DS


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