Bulgaria has become a hub and distribution centre for natural gas.
The opening of an office of the Azeri state-owned company SOCAR in Bulgaria last year is extremely favourable.
This was stated by the President of the National Assembly Rosen Zhelyazkov after his meeting with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Prof. Dr. Sahiba Ghafarova, reports BGNES special envoy in Baku.
This year the 6th session of the economic committee is to be held to discuss the possibility of Bulgarian companies' participation in the reconstruction of Karabakh.
Today, 4 March, marks the 9th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan.
"Since 2015, opportunities have opened up to diversify both the gas supply and transit infrastructure and the source of natural gas. We can already see the practical implementation of all projects - the interconnector with Greece and the one with Serbia. Bulgaria has become a hub and a centre for natural gas distribution both in the Serbia-Hungary direction, soon probably also to Croatia, which is interested in supplies, and in the direction of Romania, Moldova and Ukraine," Zhelyazkov said.
Asked by BGNES whether the Azeri state and oil company SOKAR has intentions for specific investments in our country and the creation of a network of gas stations, such as in Romania and Turkey, Zhelyazkov replied, "We just noted that the opening of the company's office last year is extremely favorable and will be commented at the level of the executive authority future projects and intentions."
Asked if SOCAR had any intentions to acquire Lukoil's assets in Bulgaria, the he said, "These topics have not been discussed. They are a matter for the discretion of the owner of the company."
Zhelyazkov and his counterpart also discussed the development of the Trans-Caspian corridor and the peace process between Baku and Yerevan.
The meeting focused on opportunities for parliamentary cooperation and friendship groups.
This year the 6th session of the economic committee is to be held to discuss the possibility of participation of Bulgarian companies in the reconstruction of Karabakh, Zhelyazkov said.
He stressed that Bulgaria is very interested in participating in the partnership between Azerbaijan, Romania, Georgia and Hungary for the transmission of green energy. A huge infrastructure for offshore wind power generation will be built in Azerbaijan.
Rosen Zhelyazkov has received confirmation of Baku's support for our participation in this partnership. The Minister of Energy will work on the issue.
Another main focus of the talks was the so-called Solidarity Ring - the development of our gas transmission infrastructure together with that of Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
"Azerbaijan is ready to reach up to 20 billion cubic meters of exports per year to Europe, from which Bulgaria can only benefit," the NA Speaker noted, as it is becoming an important partner of all Balkan countries, as well as on the South-North axis. / BGNES
