BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is currently implementing two gas distribution projects in Bulgaria, Murad Heydarov, Executive Director of SOCAR for the Balkans, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He noted that SOCAR is a key gas supplier to Bulgaria.
“Last year, we reached a record milestone: our share of the domestic gas market in Bulgaria stood at around 60%. This includes supplies through both the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company and SOCAR. In total, deliveries to Bulgaria last year amounted to nearly 2 billion cubic meters.
Bulgaria is naturally of special interest to us. Firstly, it is a participant in the Southern Gas Corridor via the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB). Secondly, due to its strategic location and well-developed transport infrastructure, Bulgaria plays a crucial role as a transit country. We use the Bulgarian gas transmission system to supply our gas not only to the Balkan region but also to other countries across Eastern Europe,” he said.
Murad Heydarov noted that the company is expanding the geography of its gas deliveries, including through Bulgaria.
“We have very successful cooperation with Bulgargaz. Our gas is also supplied to the Balkan Gas Hub, which has established itself as a very stable platform for transactions in the gas sector,” he said.
Heydarov emphasized that SOCAR is not limited to so-called wholesale deliveries, but is also moving toward supplying gas directly to consumers.
“From this perspective, I would like to highlight two projects that we are currently implementing.
The first is the construction of a gas distribution network in the town of Panagyurishte. Essentially, this involves the gasification of the town and the industrial enterprises operating in this region of Bulgaria. We have a partner, Asarel Energy, one of the largest mining companies in Europe, which already has the necessary infrastructure in the town. Together with Asarel Energy, we will supply gas to all industrial enterprises in the town, including Asarel Energy’s facilities, as well as to other clients, including municipal institutions and households,” he said.
The second gas distribution project, according to Murad Heydarov, is the so-called hybrid gasification project.
“This project involves supplying gas to consumers in regions of the country that are not connected to the Bulgargaz network. It is well known that Bulgaria has one of the lowest gasification rates in the European Union. There are remote areas where the Bulgargaz network has not yet reached. Therefore, compressed natural gas (CNG) is delivered to these regions using specialized road transport. Currently, we are implementing this project in partnership with M-Gaz.
We have quite ambitious plans. If these plans come to fruition, we will be able to become the second-largest gas distributor in Bulgaria. SOCAR is already the number one wholesale gas supplier in the country and plans, within a short period—over the next two years—to secure the second position in gas distribution,” he said.
The head of SOCAR Balkan also highlighted another focus area: expanding the company’s commercial presence in Bulgaria’s petroleum products market.
“This is quite a challenging task, given the strong competition, particularly with the presence of LUKOIL’s refinery in the country. Nevertheless, there are certain opportunities. We are working on this and have already achieved some results. Therefore, expanding our position in the petroleum products market remains one of the key areas of our work,” added Murad Heydarov.