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Azerbaijan and Bulgaria sign documents of cooperation

13 November 2009 15:50 (UTC +04:00)

The presidentsâ€™ meeting was followed by a document signing ceremony.

Azerbaijanâ€™s Minister of Energy and Industry Natig Aliyev and Bulgaria`s Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Azerbaijan Republic and Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Executive Director of Bulgartransgaz Ivan Drenovichki and Vice-President of SOCAR Elshad Nasirov signed a memorandum of understanding on gas transportation between Bulgartransgaz and State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).

According to Bulgarian media, the first memorandum envisages the transportation of at least 1 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas a year to Bulgaria during 2011-2012.
The document is believed to enable Bulgaria to improve the safety of transportation and to diversify sources of energy.

Under this document, SOCAR and Bulgartransgaz will launch a joint venture to explore the possibilities for delivering natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, including finding supplies for the quota of natural gas that Bulgaria will be entitled to receive through the Nabucco gas transit pipeline, and for the transit of compressed natural gas with tankers through the Black Sea.

If the project is realized, Bulgaria will not have to participate in the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal, said Traicho Traikov.

As a result of the January 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas crisis, the Bulgarian authorities considered pushing for the setting up of such a terminal in Greece or Turkey in order to diversify the countryâ€™s gas supplies.

â€œTankers for the transport of compressed gas cost more money but use cheaper infrastructure because they do not require the construction of a special terminal for the unloading of the fuel, which can be directly delivered to the countryâ€™s gas network or to be stored in a storage facilityâ€ he added.

Asked about the results of the meeting, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov told reporters â€œit is difficult to say any concrete date for the implementation of the projectâ€.

"However, the documents signed today could become part of the Nabucco project in the future. These are bilateral agreements and could potentially be taken into account in the Nabucco project as well,â€ he noted.

Bulgarian President said that the Nabucco project requires solving a number of questions.

"First and foremost, these issues are related to energy source, transit, and funding. Azerbaijan reaffirmed its commitment to the Nabucco project at a meeting in Prague in May 2009. The unresolved issues are transit and financing,â€ he added.