Bulgaria and Türkiye will continue to cooperate to ensure security of energy supply
Bulgaria and Türkiye will continue their mutual cooperation to ensure diversification and security of energy supply. This was agreed upon by Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov and Dr. Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye. They held a meeting in Istanbul upon the initiative of Minister Malinov relating to a Decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria of 19 April 2024. We recall that it instructs the Minister of Energy to take the necessary steps to renegotiate the Agreement between Bulgargaz EAD and the Turkish state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ). In this respect, the Bulgarian side expressed its willingness to revise the contract and the Turkish side showed understanding and desire to continue the cooperation. Energy ministers mandated the management of the two companies to take up active work on the agreement between Bulgargaz EAD and BOTAŞ.
The possibility of increasing connectivity between the electricity and gas transmission systems between the two countries was also discussed. The progress following the Interconnection Agreement, signed in January this year, between Bulgaria's gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz EAD and Türkiye's gas transmission system operator BOTAŞ was also noted. In Minister Malinov's words, the document is important for the diversification of natural gas sources not only for Bulgaria, but also for the regional and European gas markets. Türkiye's gas transmission network ensures access to natural gas from local extraction, Azerbaijan, Iran and the global liquefied gas market through the regasification terminals in Türkiye.
