Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov says the Bulgaria-Greece gas pipeline will be up and running in September, according to BTA.

Petkov and Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov on Monday inspected the construction site of the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector near the Greek city of Komotini, BTA reports.
The Bulgarian delegation met with Greek Environment and Energy Minister Konstantinos Skrekas. Both sides stressed the importance of the project, according to Agerpres.

The Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector will link the gas transmission networks of two neighboring countries, thus providing access to the Southern Gas Corridor and a number of new gas sources.

In total, the pipeline will be 182 kilometers long, mostly located in Bulgaria. It will pass through the cities of Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and Kardjali and, among other benefits, will allow gas to enter all settlements in the area.

Petkov commented that the physical infrastructure is already in place and hydrostatic pressure tests are underway.

“This means that we have made remarkable progress, which confirms that more has been done in the last three months than during entire 2021,” he added.

Petkov added that if Russian gas supplies were cut off, Bulgaria was prepared with three options. The Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector can bring Bulgaria 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, or the country’s total consumption.

There are also two connections through Nea Mesemvria and Turkey.

“We will not interrupt Gazprom’s deliveries in principle, we have no such idea, but when we start negotiations, we will know that we have more than one card in hand,” Petkov said.