Bulgaria and Romania Negotiate Emergency Energy Assistance

Bulgarian and Romanian electricity operators will discuss a deal on providing mutual emergency assistance to secure their energy systems. This was agreed by Minister of Energy Temenujka Petkova and her Romanian counterpart, Toma-Florin Petcu, at a meeting of the joint working group in the field of energy between the two countries held on Tuesday. Petkova has reported good cooperation in the energy sector and has outlined the security of energy supply as the main priority of the Bulgarian government. They have put the commissioning of the gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Romania as an excellent example of the implementation of the objectives of the European Energy Union, diversification of the sources and routes for natural gas supply and the development of the natural gas market in the region. Romanian Minister Petcu informed that at the end of the year, the Podichs compressor station will be completed in the territory of our northern neighbor, which will allow to increase the gas import capacity in Bulgaria and the operation of the project in its entirety.

During the Bulgarian-Romanian workshop, information was exchanged on the progress of the exploration of oil and gas in the Black Sea waters. The Romanian side has been interested in supplying natural gas quantities from local mining in the Romanian Black Sea blocks to the Bulgarian gas transmission system. The two sides have also welcomed the possibility of uniting electricity markets and Petkova has indicated that Bulgaria and Romania will take a common position with the European Commission so as to allow the continued operation of coal-fired power plants following the adoption of tougher environmental requirements for large combustion plants.