SOFIA (Bulgaria), December 12 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria has sent a letter to the European Commission proposing to build an EU-funded regional gas hub near the Black Sea port of Varna, the country's government said on Friday.
The proposed gas hub could dispatch Russian gas deliveries to Greece, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and, through them, to the rest of the EU member states in Central and Western Europe, as well as to Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the government said in a press release.
It could be supplied with gas from the planned South Stream gas pipeline, as well as from Bulgaria's potential gas deposits in the Black Sea or, via interconnectors with Greece and Turkey, with gas from the Caspian or the Eastern Mediterranean or from the Greek and Turkish LNG terminals, the government said.
Furthermore, the gas hub could also get deliveries via the interconnector with Romania, which is estimated to have significant deposits in the Black Sea shelf, the government added.
The project could be implemented with priority alongside the construction of gas links with Bulgaria's neighbours, in tune with the Juncker Plan and the establishment of a European Energy Union, and thus contribute to improving the safety of supplies and the diversification of sources and routes, the government also said.
The government also said the project meets all EU requirements for the liberalisation of the bloc's energy market.
Securing alternative gas supply routes has come into sharper focus for the countries in Southeast Europe after Russia announced last week it had abandoned plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline.
The South Stream was planned to carry gas from Russia under the Black Sea, making landfall in Bulgaria and then continuing through Serbia and Hungary towards Austria.
Earlier this week, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece committed to develop a vertical gas corridor, connecting the three countries.