Bulgaria eyes stake in planned LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli

Sofia plans to take a minority stake in a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal near Greece’s northern city of Alexandroupoli, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova has said, according to reports.

In comments made earlier this week, Petkova reportedly said that LNG offers Bulgaria an opportunity for further diversification of natural gas supplies, on top of the one billion cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan, for which the Balkan state signed a contract several years ago.

“When we talk about the Greece-Bulgaria [gas] inter-connector, we must note the importance of another opportunity for diversification of gas deliveries and that is our participation in the Alexandroupoli terminal,” Petkova was quoted by the Independent Balkan News Agency (IBNA) as saying.

“It is a project of extreme importance to the entire region. It is in full synergy with the Greece-Bulgaria inter-connector and that is why the Bulgarian government discussed the prospect and took the decision to participate in this project as a shareholder, so that we have the opportunity for gas deliveries from various LNG sources, including the US, Qatar and Algeria,” she said, according to the report.