By Trend

Indeed, the interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) could cover the entire gas consumption of Bulgaria and this is really a great news in very difficult times, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, addressing the ceremony of IGB’s commercial launch in Sofia, Trend reports.

“Thanks to projects like this Europe will have enough gas for the winter. We worked very hard last month to get there. The first step was diversification away from Russian gas towards other reliable suppliers. President Aliyev, I visited you in July for that purpose, our friends from Norway, US, Algeria and many others, who helped us in this critical moment,” she said.

Ursula von der Leyen recalled that the project of the gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece has been on the table since over 10 years.

“So quite a while it was launched in 2009 at a time actually when Bulgaria was hardly hit by Gazprom’s decision to stop gas flows through Ukraine. It took lot of determination to reach the goal. The EU has supported this project from the very first day on politically, but also financially. I would say today a new era for Bulgaria and South-East Europe begins. Bulgaria used to receive 80 percent of its gas from Russia. This pipeline is a game changer for Bulgaria and for Europe’s energy security. And it means freedom from dependency on Russian gas,” she added.