site.btaFinal Viability Assessment for Gas Trading Hub near Varna to Be Ready in July

Brussels, July 12 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Commission was familiarized on Tuesday with a preliminary report on the viability of an idea to build a natural gas hub near Varna (on the Black Sea). The final report will be ready by the end of July and will be discussed in Bulgaria in September, participants in the meeting told Bulgarian journalists.

Deputy Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov specified that the first report discusses seven options for the delivery of 25-60 billion cu m of gas annually, the possible entry points, and supplier companies and interested countries. According to the document, eleven countries are interested in the development of such centre built on borrowed funds and self-financing. Azerbaijan, Russia, the US, Egypt, Nigeria, Greece and the locations of liquefied gas terminals were indicated as possible sources of fuel supply for the hub.

From Bulgaria, the gas is to be transited to Austria and Italy. According to Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director Internal Energy Market at the European Commission Directorate General for Energy, the countries of Central Europe will mainly be interested in the development of the hub. Stankov said that a study has shown that the demand for gas in the region will be increasing by 40 billion cu m annually over the next 25 years, and this is evidence that the hub can develop.

Borchardt noted that this hub is a trading platform and does not cater for the needs of the Balkan countries only. In his words, there are huge opportunities to attract private investors, as well as international financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank, the Juncker Plan, and pension funds. According to the EC official, the idea is commercially feasible and qualifies as a project of common interest. "We don't promise anything, but financial resources are available," Borchardt said. He specified that the gas hub is to offer prices lower than the competitors'.

Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Vladimir Malinov explained that the European Commission does not impose restrictions on the type of investors. As an example, he mentioned a Canadian pension fund, which is one of the largest investors in the Czech gas transmission network.