site.btaAmbassador Poriazov Highlights Bulgaria's Place in Regional Energy Cooperation during Athens Summit

Speaking at the Athens Energy Summit on Thursday, Bulgarian Ambassador to Greece Valentin Poriazov highlighted his country's role in regional cooperation in the field of energy.

The diplomat said: "Over the past 20 years, the countries of Southeast Europe have demonstrated a fairly exemplary model of cooperation, with my country, positioned at the heart of the region, developing extensive energy collaboration with all our neighbours."

Poriazov noted that, as an EU member state, Bulgaria has developed cooperation with its partners in the bloc, but it also has considerable experience in energy and other forms of collaboration with Turkiye over many years, and with the countries in the Western Balkans. "Our transmission systems operate smoothly with all our neighbours, both from south to north and from east to west," he said.

The Ambassador recalled the implementation of the Greece–Bulgaria interconnector, through which his country can receive 1 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Azerbaijan annually. He added that Bulgaria and Greece cooperate excellently and efficiently in the field of electricity transmission.

"I say this in the context of the rather unpleasant fact that Mr Putin has stopped all gas supplies to Bulgaria. Immediately after the start of his invasion of Ukraine, we were 92% dependent on natural gas from Russia, and now we are 0%. We have truly experienced what European solidarity means," Poriazov continued.

According to him, the diversification of energy sources is very important, and the risks to energy security will be minimal if good cooperation continues.

The forum was attended by ambassadors and other official representatives of Greece, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and other countries, as well as international experts and leaders from the energy sector.