A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, and Temenuzhka Petkova, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017.

The parties discussed the prospects for deeper collaboration in the gas sector, noting that Russian gas exports to Bulgaria had been growing every year since 2013. The positive trend continues this year. In the January-May period of 2017, gas deliveries to Bulgaria added 14.5 per cent against the same period of 2016. The meeting participants commended Gazprom and Bulgartransgaz for their successful cooperation in ensuring gas transit across Bulgaria to third countries.

In the course of the meeting, particular attention was paid to long-term arrangements for gas deliveries to Bulgaria. Alexey Miller briefed Temenuzhka Petkova on the progress of the TurkStream project, emphasizing that the new gas transmission capacities in the Black Sea area would substantially improve the reliability of gas supplies to consumers in southern and southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria. Temenuzhka Petkova spoke about the development of Bulgaria's gas transmission system, investments therein, and the concept for creating a gas distribution center in the country.