The Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector will be completed so that the natural gas from Azerbaijan will reach Romania by July 2022, energy minister Virgil Popescu announced, according to local Adevarul.

In contrast to the rapid development of the South Stream (Light) that bypasses Romania and transports Russian gas, the delays in the completion of this interconnector prompted in Romania speculations related to Bulgaria favouring the spread of Russian gas in the region.

The interest for Romania related to the gas from Azerbaijan should, in principle, relate to the transport fees, under the optimistic scenario that the Black Sea offshore projects will eventually begin operations. Transgaz, the operator of the gas pipelines in Romania, already starts charging local consumers for the costs incurred with the BRUA pipeline (supposed to carry Azeri gas, among others) - while BRUA remains empty.

"Today (July 9), I had a working meeting with my counterpart in Bulgaria - energy minister Andrey Zhivkov, on the sidelines of participation in the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative in Sofia. The talks focused on future actions to strengthen bilateral relations between the two states, but also on future joint investment projects in the field of renewable energy (hydro and offshore wind), about increasing interconnection for electricity transmission," Virgil Popescu wrote on his Facebook page.

The minister said he had received assurances that the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector would be completed by July 2022 so that the Vertical Corridor would be operational and Azerbaijani gas and liquefied natural gas from Greek ports could reach BRUA.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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