Bulgaria is of key importance for Azerbaijani blue fuel in Southeast Europe. This was commented by Murad Heydarov, head of the Balkans representative office of the Azerbaijani gas company SOCAR, quoted by BNT.
The interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria further strengthens the importance of Sofia in Azerbaijan's energy policy in the Balkans. Through it and the Southern Gas Corridor, Azerbaijani gas will reach Moldova and Ukraine, and in the west it already reaches Serbia, North Macedonia and Hungary. Baku is ready to increase its capacity for the Balkan countries and Central Europe.
Mr. Heydarov, what is the current place of the Balkans in Azerbaijan's energy strategy?
Indeed, SOCAR and Azerbaijan have a very solid, long-term strategy for doing business in the South-Eastern part of Europe. We believe that the most attractive markets for our hydrocarbon reserves and for our energy are specifically South-Eastern Europe – the Balkans. And I would say that Bulgaria is one of our most important customers, as well as a partner, since we are developing many lines of cooperation, including in the energy sector. And, of course, we have cooperated intensively and continue to cooperate on the Southern Gas Corridor transmission system.
The energy connection between Bulgaria and Greece is working very well and supplies Azerbaijani gas. Did it meet your expectations?
Absolutely, absolutely! You are absolutely right. And that was planned. That was our long-term strategy – between our governments and the participating companies – to look for a way to expand our Southern Corridor through specially designated interconnection lines. And our plans were successfully implemented by both governments – of Bulgaria and Greece – with some assistance from the government of Azerbaijan. Yes, it fully meets our expectations.
The Southern Gas Corridor – as a large transmission system – should have supporting lines. And the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria plays this important role. The interconnector has been in operation for two years now and it supplies our gas to Bulgaria. It offers market participants different types of products. So it not only serves to transport Azerbaijani gas, but also gas to every other customer on the market. And this is something that we envisaged when developing the concept of the Southern Gas Corridor – to ensure better connectivity within Europe, to ensure energy security for the countries of Southeastern Europe and, first of all, to contribute – through Azerbaijan – to the strategy of creating a single, integrated gas market in Europe.
We see that gas from Azerbaijan guarantees energy security not only in Bulgaria, not only in Greece, in Romania, where it connects with Moldova, but also on the other side – for Serbia and North Macedonia. How did you understand that these numerous countries expect gas from Azerbaijan?
This was our initial plan – to deliver gas to as many countries in Europe as possible. And from this perspective, we are implementing our strategy to expand our presence in the gas markets in different countries.
Just a few statistics: Since last year, we have supplied gas to 10 European countries, 8 of which are member states of the European Union. And, of course, such countries as Romania, Hungary, Serbia are on the list of customers for our gas. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in Bulgaria and the government of Bulgaria for making our transit through Bulgaria to these countries that I mentioned possible. So we are cooperating with the government of Bulgaria and with the relevant energy institutions of your country, not only for the supply of gas to Bulgaria, but also beyond that – to supply to as many countries as possible – those countries that need additional, alternative gas from Azerbaijan.
Do I understand you correctly that Bulgaria has a very crucial position in the Balkans in your country's energy strategy?
Yes, absolutely! Bulgaria offers high-quality standards for cooperation in the field of energy supplies and - most importantly - energy transportation. Bulgaria is well connected to many European countries by pipelines. Bulgaria is considering the possibility of receiving liquefied natural gas from various terminals - including, for example, in Greece and Turkey. From this position, Bulgaria is one of the most important players in the European gas market.
My last question is about the Southern Gas Corridor. You talked, of course, about the Southern Gas Corridor, but did it change the energy map of the Balkans, giving a more special role to Bulgaria?
I would say that we contributed to this change. We laid the foundations for ensuring that Europe receives gas from an alternative source. We call it dual diversification, which means that we offered a new energy source through the Southern Gas Corridor, which would be delivered through a new transmission system – this is the so-called dual diversification. And from this perspective, the Southern Gas Corridor is a very important project that contributed to positive changes in the European market.