BULGARIA

Georgia, together with 12 NATO member countries and partners, will take part in the international naval exercise “Sea Shield 24”, which will be held in Romania from April 8 to 21, the press service of the Romanian Ministry of Defense reported.

According to the information, in addition to Georgia and Romania, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the USA, Turkey and France will take part in the exercises.

Pursuant to a decision of the National Assembly of March 14, 2024, promulgated on March 19, 2024, on a proposal by the executive director of Bulgartransgaz EAD Vladimir Malinov the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of the company took the decision for carrying-out a public procurement in relation to the initiative of the gas transmission operators of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova for the Vertical Corridor.

Interview with Teodor Detchev Ph.D., associate professor at the Higher School of Security and Economics (HSSE) in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, head of the Laboratory on the Problems of the Black Sea and Caspian Region

How do you assess the level of Azerbaijani-Bulgarian relations?

The suspension of supplies of Russian oil to the Lukoil refinery in Burgas from March 2024 does not mean the company's losing the opportunity to supply this refinery with raw materials, a source familiar with the matter told Trend.

Bulgaria hopes for gas supplies from Azerbaijan to its regions, a source at the Bulgarian ministry of energy told Trend.

Greece supports the efforts for increasing rhe capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), said the country’s deputy minister of environment and energy Alexandra Sdoukou, Trend reports via the ministry.

Bulgartransgaz's hydrogen transportation infrastructure project has been included in the EU's list of projects of common interest (PCI) and will become an important 'green' project for the country and the region, the head of „Bulgartransgaz“ Vladimir Malinov said, Trend reports.

According to him, Bulgartransgaz's proposed project to create infrastructure for hydrogen transportation is key to the implementation of the concept of clean hydrogen transportation.

Following a tender in accordance with the Public Procurement Law, ICGB commissions a Bulgarian company to develop a detailed design for the Stara Zagora gas metering station (GIS2), which will expand the capacity of the IGB gas pipeline. The transport operator is working to develop the gas pipeline infrastructure and increase the total technical capacity from 3 billion cubic meters per year to 5 billion cubic meters per year.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has transported around 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Italy in 2023, Trend reports via the TAP AG consortium.

“From 2026 we will be able to supply 1.2 billion cubic meters more per year,” reads a message from the consortium.

Plans to expand the capacity of the IGB interconnector to 5 billion cubic meters per year will be of great importance to be able to transfer 10 billion cubic meters per year of LNG from the terminals in Greece and Caspian gas through the Southern Gas Corridor, reaching Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia.