site.btaBulgarian Head of State Confers with Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Chair Sahiba Gafarova

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan are not only strategic partners, but also share genuine friendly relations, exemplified by the active dialogue at the highest political level and the joint projects in a number of areas, President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Chair Sahiba Gafarova, who is on an official visit to Bulgaria, Radev's Press Secretariat reported here on Tuesday.

The Bulgarian head of State said that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner and is of key importance for the energy diversification not only of Bulgaria but also of the European Union. The gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece, as well as the Solidarity Ring project, have contributed to increasing the energy security of the region, as they enable the transmission of additional quantities of Azeri gas. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev visited Bulgaria at President Radev's invitation twice in just six months - for the commissioning of the ICGB interconnector and for the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the gas transmission operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The Bulgarian Head of State also noted the importance Bulgaria attaches to the opening of an office of the SOCAR company in Sofia.

There was a common position that there is potential for deepening cooperation in the spheres of economy, high technologies, automotive industry, education, culture. President Radev said that the resumption of the direct flights between Baku and Sofia will contribute to the expansion of contacts between the businesses and citizens of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan.