Minister Malinov: The countries of the Southeast Europe region will achieve their energy security goal in cooperation
“The countries of the Southeast Europe region will achieve their energy security goal in cooperation. Our joint work on energy connectivity, diversification, increasing the share of clean energy and achieving climate neutrality will contribute to the development of the region.” This was said by the Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov during his participation in the 8th edition of the Energy Forum for Southeast Europe. The event, which is taking place today in Thessaloniki, is organized by the American-Greek Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Atlantic Council. Minister Malinov participated in a round-table on “Energy cooperation in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Turning Point for the EU`s Energy Security”, together with his colleagues – the Minister of Environment and Energy of Greece – Theodoros Skylakakis, the Minister of Energy of Romania – Sebastian Burduja and others.
During the discussion, Minister Malinov noted that in the process of increasing the share of green energy, the competitiveness of the economies in the region should be maintained. “In cooperation with all parties, we must build the necessary electricity network to ensure access to energy at affordable prices for businesses and consumers,” Minister Vladimir Malinov emphasized. He noted, that now there are serious differences in the electricity prices between the regions of Southeast Europe and Central and Western Europe. We expect the liquefied natural gas terminal in Alexandroupolis to be put into commercial operation on October 1-st. This is an excellent example of the successful cooperation between the countries, thanks to which energy security in the region will be guaranteed,” said Minister Malinov. As other good examples in this area, he outlined the Vertical Gas Corridor and the project to connect the energy system of Europe and North Africa. The countries of the region should develop a joint project that we can rise to a strategic level with our partners from the United States. Such potential project would be strengthening the electricity transmission network and self-generated electricity,” Malinov added. “The cooperation with our partners from the United States of America also makes a significant contribution to achieving energy security in the region,” the energy minister emphasized. “In Bulgaria as ma result of our joint work with United States, the fuel for Unit 5 of Kozloduy NPP has already been diversified after it was successfully commissioned in May.”
