Greek Energy Minister to visit Baku

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas will visit Baku in the coming days as part of strengthening contacts and ensuring the country's energy security, Azernews reports.

During the visit, the Greek minister will hold meetings with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov. They already met in July in Alexandroupolis during the opening of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (IGB), the guest will also have a meeting at SOCAR.

To recall, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline, which is on track for commercial launch on October 1, is in the final stage of completion, and administrative procedures for granting an operational licence, and Right of Use acts are ongoing in both countries.

The IGB gas pipeline is designed to connect with the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini (Greece), and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in the area of Stara Zagora. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182 km, and the diameter of the pipe is 32'' with a design capacity of up to 3 billion m3/year in the direction of Greece and Bulgaria.

The pipeline is designed to increase its capacity up to 5 bcm/y depending on market interest and the capacities of neighboring gas transmission systems.

The opening ceremony of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria was held in Komotini on July 8.

To recall, with the completion of the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) construction on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor. Last year, TAP transported 8.1 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. Of the total amount of transported gas, over 6.8 billion cubic meters reached Italy and approximately 1.2 billion cubic meters were delivered to Greece and Bulgaria.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Greece were established in 1992. The embassy of Azerbaijan in the Hellenic Republic has been operating since April 2004, while the embassy of the Hellenic Republic in Azerbaijan was established in May 1993. In total, around twenty-four documents were signed between the two countries. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $435.7 million in 2021.