Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has asked Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to provide more natural gas, saying the integration of gas networks of several European countries will help them increase imports from the Caspian region, Bloomberg reports.
Radev said Bulgaria plans to connect its gas network with those of Romania, Hungary and Slovakia in order to boost gas shipments from Azerbaijan.
“Now the decision is yours,” he told Aliyev, according to a statement from the Azeri president’s office.
Radev was in the Azerbaijani capital but was unable to meet Aliyev in person as a member of the Bulgarian delegation had tested positive for Covid-19, Aliyev’s office said. The leaders spoke via video conference.
Azerbaijan started exporting natural gas to Italy, Greece and Bulgaria through the Southern Natural Gas Corridor pipeline chain in December 2020. Exports to Europe are expected to increase to 12 billion cubic meters this year from 11.4 billion cubic meters in 2022.
Bulgaria was expected to buy 600 million cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan last year.
Source: capital
