BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1. The Solidarity Ring initiative, which envisages additional gas deliveries to Central Europe from Azerbaijan is open to other countries as well, said Director of Bulgartransgaz EAD, Vladimir Malinov during Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, Trend reports.
"A few days ago, a memorandum between Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Azerbaijan on the STRING initiative was signed in Sofia, which aims at the immediate provision of additional natural gas quantities to Europe from Azerbaijan via a secure route," he added. In his words, the initiative is open to other countries.
Malinov noted that for example, the accession of Greece as a country where projects for new LNG terminals are being developed and thanks to the infrastructure of the gas transmission operator DESFA, will provide additional gas volumes and diversification for the countries in the region.
A signing ceremony of the "Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), Eustream (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR)" was held in Sofia April 25.
The Memorandum of Understanding sets out directions of cooperation between SOCAR and four distribution system operators for the supply of additional gas from Azerbaijan to Europe. The additional gas will be supplied through the upgraded transmission network systems of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia called the "Solidarity Ring".
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