site.btaBulgartransgaz CEO Attends 5th Southeast Europe & East Med in Washington DC

To achieve security in the energy mix, Europe is promoting the construction of new LNG terminals. The available regasification capacity in the South East Europe region, amounting to more than 35 billion cubic metres per year, together with the planned new terminals, as well as the increase in flows from the Caspian region, will lead to further growth in flows from south to north, said Vladimir Malinov, CEO of the national gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz EAD during his second participation in the Southeast Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Forum, as quoted by the press centre of the state-owned company on Wednesday. The fifth edition of the high-level conference was held in the capital of the United States of America - Washington. The main organizer of the event is the Delphi Economic Forum.

"Liquefied natural gas has set the stage for a revolution in the sector in the 21st century and will be the guarantor of secure, reliable and affordable energy supplies for Europe in the long term. Bulgartransgaz will consider any opportunity for shareholding in a new regasification terminal in Greece. Such an investment would be fully synergistic with the projects under the Vertical Corridor initiative and would be of key importance for the whole region," Malinov emphasized during the conference.

The implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor [running across Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary] was the main topic of the discussion panel on building new regional and connecting infrastructure in Europe. 

"The initiative is of strategic importance to provide a technical opportunity for two-way transmission of additional volumes of natural gas from reliable sources such as the US, Egypt and others," Malinov stressed. "In addition to its well-developed infrastructure, Bulgartransgaz has proposed projects to increase transmission capacity between Greece and Bulgaria and Bulgaria and Romania. The implementation of the two projects will enhance energy security, improve conditions for diversification of supply, stimulate competition and help to fully integrate the gas markets of the countries in the region," he said. 

On the sidelines of the conference, Malinov held a meeting with US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis. The talks focused on the upcoming commissioning of the liquefied natural gas terminal in Alexandroupolis, in which the Bulgarian gas transmission operator is a shareholder with a 20% stake.

Ambassador Tsunis noted the leading role of Bulgartransgaz in the implementation of the Vertical Corridor initiative, through which, after the inclusion of Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia, the countries of Eastern Europe will gain secure access to alternative sources of natural gas, the statement said.