US
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that his country will back
Bulgaria in its efforts to ensure its energy independence, as a joint working
group will be set up to explore the options for cooperation in this
area.
The U.S. is ready to help Bulgaria, which had to make some tough
choices, in this energy situation, Kerry, who is paying an official visit to
Sofia, told a joint news conference with prime minister Boyko Borisov broadcast
live by the state-run Bulgarian National Television.
A US energy expert
will work with the Bulgarian government to prepare a plan forthe country's
energy future, Kerry added. He, however, declined to answer a question on
possible U.S. investments in energy projects.
For his part, Borisov said
that Kerry had pledged to back Bulgaria's request that the European Union
finance a project for a gas interconnector with Greece. Borisov also said he had
familiarised Kerry with a project which Bulgaria and the European Commission are
contemplating on the possible construction of a gas hub at the Turkish-Bulgarian
border.
Securing alternative gas supply routes has come into sharper
focus for the countries in Southeast Europe after Russia announced it had
abandoned plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline, which was planned to
carry gas from Russia under the Black Sea via Bulgaria and then continuing
through Serbia and Hungary towards Austria.
In December Bulgaria sent a
letter to the European Commission proposing to build an EU-funded regional gas
hub near the Black Sea port of Varna to dispatch Russian gas deliveries to the
rest of Europe. In a separate developmentBulgaria, Romania and Greece committed
to develop a vertical gas corridor, connecting the three
countries.
Bulgaria relies almost fully on Russian gas imports to meet
its needs.
On Wednesday, Russian gas giant Gazprom's president Aleksey
Miller told the vice president of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic that
Russia plans to shift all its gas transit from Ukraine to Turkey and that EU
customers should buy this gas at the border with Greece, internet portal
EurActiv reported.