Bulgartransgaz to Acquire Assets of South Stream Bulgaria

Bulgaria's gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz said it is planning to acquire 28 properties owned by South Stream Bulgaria, a 50/50 joint venture set up by Russia's Gazprom and state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding.

The properties have a total estimated value of 13.2 million levs ($8.3 million/6.7 million euro), Bulgartransgaz said in a notice on Tuesday.

According to media reports, Bulgartransgaz will use the assets for the purposes of a project for an EU-funded regional gas hub near the Black Sea port of Varna. The hub is planned to dispatch gas deliveries to to Greece, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and, via those countries, to EU member states in central and western Europe, as well as to non-EU Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

South Stream Bulgaria was set up in relation to the now abandoned South Stream gas pipeline project. The South Stream gas pipeline was planned to carry gas from Russia to central and southern Europe. The onshore pipeline had to connect Varna, on the Black Sea, to northern Italy, via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Bulgaria is heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies. The country imports almost all the gas it needs to cover its domestic needs via a pipeline from Ukraine through Romania.

Source: SeeNews

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