"Azerbaijan is a stable and strategic source of diversified gas supply for European countries, including Bulgaria and Greece, and a reliable partner. Over a year, Azerbaijan supplied 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. 1.4 billion cubic meters went to Greece and 440 million cubic meters to Bulgaria. Gas export to Bulgaria, which was 160 million cubic meters in the first six months, is planned to reach 600 million cubic meters by the end of the year. From July 1, a full volume of 2.6 million cubic meters of gas is exported to Bulgaria daily, which means an increase in daily supply by 1.7 million cubic meters,” Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said at the opening ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB), which will transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Bulgaria.

According to the Press Service of the Ministry of Energy, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov also participated in the opening ceremony.

Shahbazov emphasized the importance of cooperation between countries for sustainable energy security. "The Southern Gas Corridor is the greatest achievement of the European Union-Azerbaijan energy partnership so far, and we intend to continue this success story," he said. The minister said that IGB is the forerunner of new projects in the direction of expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor in the coming years.

Ilham Shaban, head of the Oil Research Center, said that Bulgaria would have the opportunity to increase gas imports from Azerbaijan up to 3 times compared to last year. "This will initially reduce Bulgaria's gas dependence on Russia to 35 percent. Official Sofia has already applied to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to purchase additional gas volumes," the expert noted.

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