Greece and Bulgaria agree to boost energy ties

Greece and Bulgaria have signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) on natural gas storage and a new oil pipeline, announcing the documents will deepen the two countries’ cooperation in the energy sector and benefit the wider region.

The first MoU aims to allow energy companies from Greece to store natural gas in Bulgaria’s Chiren depot, while Bulgarian companies would be able to use the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Revithoussa near Athens, according to media reports. Under the second document, the two sides will explore possibilities for reviving a project to build an oil pipeline between the ports of Alexandroupolis in Greece and Burgas in Bulgaria.

The planned oil pipeline would link the ports of Alexandroupolis and Burgas

The MoUs were signed in Athens by the two countries’ energy ministers in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. The sides agreed that the top-level political will could help find solutions to the problems with energy supply, disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Following the signature, Radev said the two MoUs would further strengthen the traditionally good cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector.

Radev: the oil pipeline will provide alternative supplies for the Balkans’ biggest refinery

The pipeline between Alexandroupolis and Burgas will “provide real diversification and alternative oil supplies for the largest refinery in the Balkans as well as for the Black Sea region,” according to him.

According to previous reports, the pipeline should supply the Lukoil Neftohim Burgas refinery.

For his part, Mitsotakis said the pipeline would connect the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea and offer Bulgaria alternative oil supply sources.