Bulgaria and Turkey have agreed to improve gas links, Bulgarian energy minister Traicho Traikov said on Sunday, as Sofia aims to reduce its reliance on Russian gas. Sofia and Ankara have signed a memorandum to make the existing gas pipeline between the two neighbouring countries reversible and build a new gas link, Traikov said.
European Union member Bulgaria has stepped up efforts to reduce its almost complete dependence on Russian gas by diversifying routes and supplies after a dispute between Russia and Ukraine last January left it without gas for weeks.
A lack of separate gas links with neighbouring countries and the inability to reverse gas flows in the opposite direction in pipelines that bring Russian gas to Greece and Turkey, worsened the gas crisis for Bulgaria. Traikov said the Bulgarian state gas company Bulgargaz and Turkey's Botas have signed an agreement that will allow Bulgaria to import gas from Turkey using the reversible link.