Bulgaria wants to join the Azerbaijani-Turkish gas pipeline to purchase fuel in urgent cases, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Trend reports.
Bulgaria plans to purchase 1 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Azerbaijan and Turkey are planning to build a pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the western one, called the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). The pipeline is expected to have an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters, about 6 billion will be exported to Turkey, the rest to Europe.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have already signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to form a consortium for TANAP construction. Gas will be provided by the Shah Deniz Field and transported to Europe through Turkey. All issues related to construction are to be resolved this year. Construction will start as soon as possible to complete the project by the end of 2017.
