Bulgaria to Press Ahead With Gas Grid Expansion, Minister Says
(Bloomberg) -- Bulgaria's energy chief said the Balkan nation will begin construction on a gas grid-expansion project in the next few weeks as part of a regional effort to boost capacity after Ukraine ended Russian transit.
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Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov cited growing demand for natural gas as Bulgaria aims to lock in agreements with grid operators for the so-called Vertical Gas Corridor. That route expands transit capacity for liquefied natural gas flowing through terminals in Greece northward to Ukraine and Moldova, with volumes meeting demand as far as Hungary and Slovakia.
'We're using everything, the full capacity of the state,' to move the project forward, Stankov said in an interview in Sofia on Thursday.
Bulgaria has emerged as the only active route for Russian pipeline gas flowing to Europe after war-battered Ukraine ended a long-term contract with Russia's Gazprom PJSC for the transit of as much as 40 billion cubic meters annually. Bulgaria's route is an extension of TurkStream, a Black Sea pipeline designed to bypass Ukraine that was completed shortly before Russia's invasion.
European nations that have maintained ties with the Kremlin, including Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia, depend on Gazprom for most of their supplies, though some have weighed alternative sources such as Azerbaijan since Russia's war disrupted deliveries.
Ukraine itself is set to import record levels of gas from Europe in the next year — nearly five times its consumption in previous years — as Russian attacks devastate its energy infrastructure.
The Vertical Corridor, for which Bulgaria has allocated 625 million lev ($345 million) in state guarantees for loans, will double capacity north to Romania to about 10 billion cubic meters annually. That will allow LNG — including Russian gas — from the Greek ports of Alexandroupolis and Revythoussa to reach Ukraine. The Bulgarian section should be completed in late 2026.
Bulgaria has held talks with Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine on potentially conducting joint tenders for LNG volumes, Stankov said. The objective would be to secure better prices and make use of Ukraine's available storage capacity of about 30 billion cubic meters, while providing access to suppliers such as Cheniere Energy Inc., he said.
'We need to start looking now for longer-term contracts to secure risk diversification and fixed prices,' he said.
--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska.
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