US State Secretary Pledges Support for Bulgaria's Energy Diversification Efforts

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.

Source: SeeNews