Greece has expressed interest in two energy projects in Bulgaria

Greece has expressed interest in two energy projects in Bulgaria - the expansion of the gas storage facility in Chiren and the construction of two new reactors at the Kozloduy NPP. Our neighbors want to keep part of the capacity in Chiren and use additional volumes of gas for a fee. They are ready to get involved in the construction of the new capacities in " Kozloduy " - as an investor or as a customer with a long-term contract for the purchase of electricity. This topic is among the topics discussed during today`s visit of Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov to Greece, the government information service announced today. The Bulgarian Prime Minister met with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Plenary talks were also held with the participation of ministers from both countries. The idea of Greece getting involved in the construction of nuclear power in our country has already been discussed several times. Already at the time, the former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov Athens was interested in the project, even in Belene NPP. During the administration of " We continue the change " with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, this interest was reaffirmed. Bulgaria wants to join the concessions of the Greek ports of Kavala and Alexandroupolis. Interest in Kavala is for participation with 20%. The concessionaire companies there, which will soon sign a contract with Greece, have already agreed to add a Bulgarian partner, which will most likely be a state-owned company. The concession for the port of Alexandroupolis is currently suspended. When it is announced again, Bulgaria will have the opportunity to declare its interest, the Prime Minister said after his return from Athens. Bulgaria and Greece are strategic partners regarding the North-South energy and transport corridors. " When Gazprom stopped gas supplies to Bulgaria last year, Greece played a key role in ensuring that we could supply our economy and household consumers without interruption. At the moment, intensive work is being done to increase the quantities of supplied gas by installing additional compressor stations. This allows not only Bulgaria to be supplied, but also to transfer gas to neighboring countries to the north and west of us, " explained Academician Denkov. There will be an oil pipeline to Burgas by the end of 2024. The topic of the meeting in Athens today was also the Alexandroupolis-Burgas oil pipeline, the importance of which for powering the refinery in Burgas will grow enormously after the derogation for Russian oil processing there ends. The Greek side is interested in building the oil pipeline by the end of 2024, therefore possible routes and practical steps for the implementation of the project were discussed today. Greece has already started developing the railway lines, which are of particular interest to Bulgaria - to the Tower and to Svilengrad. Improving the technical condition of the railways in these two directions would allow more cargo to be transported from Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova to Greek ports. Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis has thanked his colleague Academician Denkov for the help that Bulgaria provides to its neighbors in the fight against the fires there. Bulgaria participates for the second year in a row in the initiative of the European Commission for the advance deployment of modules for extinguishing forest fires. At the moment, 70 Bulgarian firefighters are working in the field with eight fire engines and three vehicles for managing forces and resources. They are located at Thessaloniki Airport.