Bulgaria and Turkmenistan said yesterday they are to step up their cooperation in the energy sector to bolster supply security in the Balkan country and beyond to the European Union.
In a joint declaration signed by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the two noted “Turkmenistan’s key role for the energy security of Bulgaria and the European Union.
” At present, Russian gas giant Gazprom buys almost all of the gas exported by Turkmenistan and sells it on to other countries but Turkmenistan is seeking to diversify its gas exports. “Bulgaria backed Turkmenistan’s efforts for creating mechanisms to ensure secure and stable transit of energy sources for the world markets,” Berdymukhamedov told reporters after the signing.
In return, Turkmenistan confirmed its readiness to sell Bulgaria over 2.0 billion cubic meters of gas a year, while Bulgaria “would obviously need even more over the coming years,” Parvanov said.
(KATHIMERINI, 08/28/2009)