site.btaBulgarian Energy Minister Meets with US Assistant Secretary Pyatt, Ukrainian Counterpart Galushchenko in Berlin

On the sidelines of his participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Bulgarian caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov met with US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey R. Pyatt and his Ukrainian counterpart German Galushchenko, the Energy Ministry said in a press release.

"The initiative of the gas transmission operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, which was subsequently joined by Ukraine and Moldova, is a key project for energy security in the whole region of Southeastern Europe", Minister Malinov underscored at the meeting with Pyatt. For his part, the Assistant Secretary reaffirmed the USA's support for the initiative, which has enabled the provision of additional LNG, including from the US, to the countries of the region and to Ukraine. He also noted the positive progress of the Bulgarian side in the implementation of the project. 

The two sides underlined the successful completion of Bulgaria's nuclear fuel diversification process, in which cooperation with the US side is of key importance. "In the framework of the scheduled annual maintenance, which was completed yesterday [Monday], Unit 5 of Kozloduy NPP was loaded with fuel produced by Westinghouse. Thus, for the first time in its history, the unit is now operating with alternative fuel," Minister Malinov noted.  

Earlier in the day, the Bulgarian Energy Minister and his Ukrainian counterpart Galushchenko noted the progress in the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor. "The strategic project is an expression of solidarity with Ukraine and is of key importance for ensuring energy security after the upcoming substitution of Russian natural gas supplies after January 1, 2025," Minister Malinov stressed.

Galushchenko briefed his Bulgarian counterpart on the energy situation in the country during the hostilities, as a result of which more than 40% of the electricity generation capacity was destroyed. "We are discussing the possibility for companies from the Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD group to donate equipment worth over BGN 1 million to the Ukrainian side, which will help restore the production capacities," Malinov said.   

The creation of a corridor for the export to Ukraine of electricity produced in Bulgaria was another topic discussed by the two ministers. According to Malinov, this would be of real help to the Ukrainian population, especially during the winter months. 

It transpired during the meeting that last week, Bulgaria sent Ukraine the general terms of the contract for the sale of the equipment at the Belene N-plan project site.