MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Bulgaria's government on Wednesday adopted a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Slovakia for future gas supplies to the Balkan country via the Eastring pipeline project, local media reported.
According to the Sofia-based Novinite news provider, the countries will create a working group that will include gas operators to study the project after the MoU approval.
The Eastring pipeline project was initiated by Slovakia in 2014, when Russia halted the implementation of the South Stream project, which was intended to traverse the Black Sea to deliver Russian natural gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria to avoid exporting gas through Ukraine.
Eastring will connect Slovakia with the Balkan countries, as well as with the existing gas pipelines in Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and a gas distribution unit, which is due to be built near the Bulgarian city of Varna.
