By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Bulgaria will receive about 440 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan in July-December 2022, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Bulgaria Huseyn Huseynov said in an interview with fakti.bg, Azernews reports.

He recalled that there is a signed contract for the annual supply of 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Bulgaria from Azerbaijan. The ambassador mentioned that from December 31, 2020, Azerbaijani natural gas is delivered to Bulgaria via an alternative route through Nea Mesemvria.

“The agreement for the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan stipulates that the gas will be delivered via the Interconnector Greece Bulgaria pipeline, from Komotini, Greece to Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. Due to delays in the construction of the IGB gas pipeline, in 2020 Bulgargaz held negotiations with the supplier company. As a result, a compromise solution was reached for temporary supply on an alternative route. Immediately after the commissioning of the IGB gas pipeline, Bulgaria will start receiving gas from Azerbaijani through the point in Komotini, from where the gas will be delivered in full volume at the agreed price,” he said.

Huseyn Huseynov added that as a result of recent negotiations between the two countries, from July 1, 2022, about 2.6 million cubic meters are exported to Bulgaria per day, which is the originally agreed full volume.

“In addition, in order to supply additional volumes of natural gas to Bulgaria, the Bulgargaz must agree with the supplier company from Azerbaijan on certain technical and commercial aspects of the supply,” he added.

The IGB gas pipeline connects to the Greek national gas transmission system in Komotini and the Bulgarian national gas transmission system in Stara Zagora. The pipeline's length is 182 km, with a capacity of up to 3bn cubic meters per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria. The pipeline is designed to increase its capacity up to 5 bcm/y depending on market interest and the capacities of neighboring gas transmission systems.

The opening ceremony of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria was held in Komotini on July 8.