Transgaz, a company controlled by the Ministry of Economy, signed on Wednesday the memorandum regarding the Vertical Gas Corridor that would link the natural gas transmission systems in Romania, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and Greece.
The concept of a vertical corridor, which will allow the transport of natural gas from the Caspian region to Central Europe, emerged in Brussels in 2014 in the context of the European Union’s (EU) objectives of diversifying the routes and sources of supply of the member states. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding defines the joint intention of the natural gas carriers in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece for a more intense future cooperation regarding the transport of natural gas from Greece, towards the transited countries and beyond – towards the EU market – via Bulgaria, Romania to Hungary, by providing technical possibilities for reversibility, says a press release of Transgaz.
The signing of the Memorandum by the representatives of the natural gas transmission system operators in Greece (DESFA), Bulgaria (Bulgartransgaz), Hungary (FGSZ) and ICGB, the company that develops the interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria, was preceded by the signing of a joint declaration by the ministers of Energy of Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece and a joint statement of the transport operators adopted on September 9th, 2016 at the meeting of a high level group for the Gas Networks Connectivity in Central and South Eastern Europe (CESEC) .
As observers, operators of the gas transmission systems in Serbia – SRBIJAGAS, Ukraine – UKRTRANSGAZ, Slovakia – EUSTREAM and from the Republic of Moldova – VESTMOLDTRANSGAZ were also invited to participate. On this occasion, Transgaz SA and JP Srbijagas announced the entry into force of the Memorandum of Understanding regarding the development of the cooperation between the two companies. The document is part of a series of steps to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in areas of activity specific to system operators and natural gas transporters in Romania and Serbia and establishes a framework for the advancement of projects of mutual interest. By creating the necessary infrastructure for the interconnection of natural gas transmission systems, Transgaz and Srbijagas aim to contribute at increasing the predictability of energy supply in the region through alternatives that can be more effective than the gas supply solutions offered by other variants.