Prime Minister Denkov met with his Greek counterpart Mitsotakis in Athens

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister,Nikolai Denkov, who returned from a visit in Greece, in Athens, on July 24 said the talks meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis , were positive and constructive.

"It was important for our country to see to what extent we could get involved in the concessions of the ports of Kavala and Alexandroupolis. Regarding Kavala, Greece is about to sign a contract with the concessionaire. It has been clearly agreed that Bulgaria will participate in this concession. The starting point for negotiations is a 20% participation of Bulgaria. This is independent of the LNG terminals, it only concerns the port itself. There will be developments on this in the upcoming months," Denkov said.

Regarding the port of Alexandroupolis, the concession was suspended a few months ago, but Mitsotakis has said that options are being considered and if a procedure is opened by the end of the year, Bulgaria will have the opportunity to declare its interest.

Regarding gas connections, work is being done to increase the intensity of gas that can be supplied by putting additional compressor stations and to be able to supply Bulgaria and to supply gas to neighbouring countries to the north and west of us, Denkov said.

The two prime ministers also touched on the issue of the railway lines to Kulata and Svilengrad, which would allow more cargo to be transported to Greek ports.

Greece has expressed interest in the expansion of Bulgarian gas storage facility in Chiren - it wants to keep some of the capacity and, for a fee, keep the additional volumes that are currently being provided. It has also expressed an interest in the development of Kozloduy NPP in preparation for the new reactors - either as investors or by entering into long-term contracts with the plant to purchase electricity.

The Alexandroupolis-Burgas pipeline has also been discussed for the possibility of importing oil to feed the refinery, important in terms of completing the derogation. The Greek side is interested in the completion of the construction, the PM said.

One of the problems with the first route is the protected areas and an environmental impact assessment has to be done again, which is why new options are being sought. The long-term prospects for the capacity that Lukoil wants to use should also be taken into account, Denkov said.

Asked by BNT, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said that Bulgaria would ask for a 20% stake in the port of Kavala and to continue supporting Ukrainian grain exports.

He specified that now the ships with Ukrainian grain depart from the Port of Varna, and the railway corridors to Kavala have not yet been developed, but work will be done in this direction.