Rumen Radev: Three more European countries want to buy additional gas from Azerbaijan

Three more European countries - Romania, Hungary and Slovakia want to buy additional gas from Azerbaijan, President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev said at a joint press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Report informs, citing AZERTAC.

"I would like to bring to your attention one more important issue: I shared with Mr. Aliyev an offer I received yesterday. In addition to Bulgaria, three other European countries – Romania, Hungary and Slovakia – have applied to us to buy and transport additional gas volumes. In the summer of this year, in July, Mr. Aliyev and Mrs. von der Leyen signed a document. According to that document, a new approach should be applied. Thanks to this, instead of waiting for years – you probably know that large investments are needed to expand the existing infrastructure here – we can immediately send Azerbaijani gas to other countries through the infrastructure of these four countries. Thus, gas can be delivered to Central, Western and Southern Europe more quickly and reliably. This proposal will be officially presented tomorrow. We will discuss it with the President of the European Commission and representatives of these four countries. We are ready for it. We can organize a high-level meeting within a month and can move the project forward. We can start this project," the head of the Bulgarian state noted.

According to him, Bulgaria is looking for new opportunities in the conditions of high gas demand and crisis.

"President Aliyev and I discussed various issues and a wide range of opinions because we need gas in cement production, glass production and other production areas. Azerbaijan also produces various products. Thus, we will be able to buy gas directly from Azerbaijan. This is a very important issue, and this gas can already be transported to the markets of third countries through us. We are saving transportation costs and time here. Bulgaria will take a more active part in this process, and our gas company will play a more active role. We will, of course, discuss this issue with Mr. Aliyev again – what our possibilities are and what options we have. We are interested in this issue and will also consider converting natural gas to electricity. This is an important issue not only for Bulgaria, but also for the European Union. Of course, the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership is very important," Radev said.