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The government should immediately undertake the construction of the Bulgaria-Greece pipeline. Two years ago, Greece signed through DEPA and the Italian EDISON a contract with the Bulgarian Energy Holding for the construction of the BULGARIA-GREECE pipeline. It included the construction of a reversible cross-border gas pipeline with an approximate length of 168.5 km, of which 140 km would reach the city of Stara Zagora in Bulgaria and approximately 30 km would be in Greece, to the town of Komotini. Its capacity is five billion cubic metres and it was planned to initially start operating with one billion cubic metres. This means that Bulgaria could become an importer of Azeri gas. The project was within the European Union and was considered a priority project for the area. The European Commission granted a major financial assistance for the project and it must be implemented, no matter what the fate of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and Nabucco Pipeline would be. The Bulgaria-Greece pipeline is crucial for the economic development of both countries and it will improve their energy security. It can be implemented by 2014, whereas the major projects for Azeri gas pipelines will be operational as early as 2017-2018. Therefore, Bulgaria has a serious incentive to trigger the Bulgaria-Greece pipeline because the country imports only from Russia.

The preparation for the pipeline started dynamically. Then things calmed down. Is the economic crisis the cause for suspending the project between the two countries?
 
I cannot be sure of the cause, but I can tell you that when I was in charge of ITGI Poseidon in 2009-2010, signing a cooperation agreement for the construction of the Bulgaria-Greece pipeline was a priority. I negotiated on the subject in Sofia and Athens and in Brussels. The construction of this pipeline was a personal goal to me. When we signed the project development agreement in March 2010, the time frame for putting the pipeline into operation was within 24 months after signing the agreement. There was political will from both Bulgaria and Greece at that time. There was political will and encouragement from Brussels as well. Europe insisted on the realization of this project and all the prerequisites for making this pipeline a fact were present. I would like to emphasize that the Bulgaria-Greece gas connection must be built and put into operation as quickly as possible, regardless of the route of Caspian gas.