Bulgaria will be entirely gas independent from Russia by 2020

The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, has claimed that his country will achieve gas independence from Russia by next year. Mr Borissov made the claim earlier this week on an official trip to inspect the progress of the construction of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB).

He added that the route was on track to be completed ahead of schedule and that Bulgaria would receive LNG from the USA, Cyprus, Qatar, Egypt and Azerbaijan. At present, the country is totally dependent on gas imports from Russia.

Ground was broken on the IGB gas link earlier this year. The link, which runs from the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora to the Greek city of Komotini, will transport Azeri gas from the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and from the Revithoussa LNG terminal in Greece. Bulgaria has signed a contract to import 1 billion m³ of Azeri gas annually - roughly a third of the country's demand.

The IGB inspection on Monday was also attended by Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova, the energy regulator’s Chairman Ivan Ivanov, US Ambassador Herro Mustafa, Greek Ambassador Dimitrios Chronopoulos and Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Nargis Gurbanova.

Prime Minister Borissov said: “After an extremely transparent procedure, Bulgaria took out a loan with a bank guarantee and is contributing 500-million-leva (€250 million) to the project. Two Greek companies won the contracts for pipe supply and construction. This shows we are not just open and transparent. We have always said Bulgaria and Greece must share their resources – Greece should be able to use the Black Sea and the Danube and Bulgaria should be able to use the Aegean Sea.” 

He added that the IGB was crucial to the diversification of sources and routes for natural gas supply to Southeastern Europe. 

US Ambassador Herro Mustafa commented that the project would guarantee Bulgaria's energy security and, by extension, its national security.

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