Bulgaria and Greece will speed up the activities necessary for the completion of the natural gas interconnector project between the two countries, quoted by Tornos news.  The commitment was confirmed during a meeting between Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and Greece’s Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Giorgos Stathakis. Petkova is on a Bulgarian delegation visiting Athens, headed by President Rumen Radev, the Energy Ministry in Sofia reported.

The meeting between Petkova and Stathakis focused on the project to build the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria. The two agreed to concentrate their efforts on the procedures for selecting a construction company and obtaining construction permits and all other necessary documents in both countries.

Discussing the funding of the project, Petkova explained that in addition to the EUR 45 million approved by the European Commission, the Bulgarian government has confirmed in several consecutive budget years that it will provide a government guarantee of EUR 110 million.

She added: “We are completing the process of obtaining EUR 35 million  in additional funding for the project under Operational Programme ‘Innovation and Competitiveness.’ We will count on European solidarity.” The question of possible additional grant aid under a Greek Operational Programme was raised during the meeting.