site.btaFebruary 6, 1965: Bulgaria's First Gas Pipeline Is Inaugurated

On February 6, 1965, the first gas pipeline in Bulgaria was inaugurated along the Chiren-Beli Izvor route. It was designed to carry natural gas for industrial use. It was 15 km long and was intended to supply energy to the Wilhelm Pieck cement plant (now Holcim Bulgaria AD) in the village of Beli Izvor, near Vratsa, Northwestern Bulgaria.

In 1968, the gas pipeline also began supplying the chemical plant Chimko in Vratsa.

The Chiren - Beli Izvor facility marked the beginning of Bulgaria’s gas transmission network, as for the first time natural gas was used as fuel and as a raw material in Bulgarian industry.

The Chiren gas field was exhausted in 1974, as a result of which the facility was remodeled into an underground gas storage facility.