European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Saturday in Sofia the launch of commercial operations of a Greek-Bulgarian gas pipeline, key according to her to emancipate from Russian energy.
“Today a new era begins for Bulgaria and Southeast Europe,” she said at a ceremony attended by many leaders of the region.
This pipeline, “synonymous with freedom, emancipation from Russian gas”, “changes the game. For Bulgaria and the energy security of Europe,” she added.
The 182 km long IGB interconnection was inaugurated in July, but it was only on Saturday that it started operating, said acting Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev.
It allows Bulgaria, which has not received gas from the Russian giant Gazprom since April, to diversify its sources and “be less vulnerable”.
This Balkan country, which was very dependent on Moscow for energy before the conflict in Ukraine, is now connected to the Tanap/Tap pipeline, which is designed to bring Azeri gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe.
Sofia is to receive 1 bcm per year of this gas, for a total IGB capacity of 3 bcm.
“It could cover the entire gas consumption of Bulgaria,” said the head of the European Commission. “This is excellent news in very difficult times (…). Thanks to such projects, Europe will have enough gas for the winter”.
At a cost of 220 million euros, including 50 million euros of European funding, the idea of the Greek-Bulgarian link was born in 2009 but its construction was much delayed.
The war in Ukraine and the energy crisis have precipitated the efforts.
It took “a lot of determination” and “patience” to complete it, stressed Ms. von der Leyen, who seeks at all costs to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas.
In July, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan in Baku to double that country’s gas imports in a few years, with a view to achieving independence from Russian gas.
The ceremony took place in the presence of the European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the heads of state of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski and Bulgaria Roumen Radev, as well as the Greek and Romanian Prime Ministers.
