With its new gas pipeline, Bulgaria emancipates itself a little more from Russia

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (left) and his Bulgarian counterpart Kiril Petkov take part in the inauguration ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) gas pipeline, in Komotini, northern Greece, July 8, 2022. AFP - -

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It's a fitting inauguration.

Greece and Bulgaria announced this Friday, July 8 the start of a gas pipeline linking the two countries.

A project that dates back to 2009, and which, in the midst of the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine, will allow Sofia to reduce its dependence on Moscow for energy.

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Bulgaria will be able to breathe.

While Gazprom, the Russian company which supplied gas to this country, has stopped its deliveries since April, this Friday the inauguration of a gas pipeline linking the city of Stara Zagora in Bulgaria to that of Komotini, in the north from Greece, will enable Sofia to diversify its sources of supply. 

182 kilometers long, this interconnection project took some time to complete.

Signed in 2009, construction only began 10 years later, in 2019 and it was in the context of the war in Ukraine that it was finally inaugurated.

This gas pipeline now allows Bulgaria to connect via Greece to the Tanap/Tap gas pipeline which carries Azeri gas from the Caspian Sea.

It will also eventually make it possible to transport Algerian or Qatari gas through the future Greek terminal in Alexandroupolis, in the north-east of the country. 

With a capacity of 3 billion cubic meters, which can be increased to 5 billion cubic meters, this project would have cost 220 million euros, part of which will be financed by the European Union.

In the midst of the energy crisis, because Sofia refused to pay in rubles for deliveries made by Gazprom, Bulgaria can therefore breathe, even if this gas pipeline should not satisfy 100% of demand.

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• Energies

• Greece

• Bulgaria