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Former Energy Minister Traicho Traikov has assured that Bulgaria has access to a number of potential gas supply sources, given that the gas grid interconnections with Romania and Greece are about to be launched.
Traikov thereby rejected allegations of socialist MP and former Minister of Economy and Energy Petar Dimitrov that the source of gas for the natural gas power plant that is expected to be built in the place of the Belene NPP could be the Cosmos or Russia.
In a Friday interview for the morning broadcast of private TV station Nova TV, Traikov pointed out that a memorandum had already been signed between Bulgaria and Greece for the construction of an LNG terminal that would be of key importance for our country,
The former Energy and Economy Minister explained that the gas for the project would come from Cyprus and Israel that he said were currently developing huge gas fields.
He noted that the two countries were willing to liquefy the gas and export it directly for Europe via Greece, thereby circumventing Turkey.
On the topic of shale gas, Traikov suggested that a new extraction technology was being developed that would be more environmentally friendly.
He added that he was a firm optimist that an eco-friendly solution would be achieved.
"We have Caspian, Black Sea and East Mediterranean natural gas, as well as shale gas," he stated.
"Although many people were desperate to find fault with my work, I can say that in the past few years we laid the groundwork for the construction of the gas grid interconnections. There are pipes and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is being prepared. The construction of the gas link with Greece should start by end-2012, while the gas link with Romania should start in May," Traikov declared.
He said that the details on the gas grid interconnection with Turkey were still being worked out, adding that the problem was not of a technical but rather of a geostrategic nature.
Traikov claimed that Turkey was trying to position itself as Russia, seeking to sell natural gas it pretended to be Turkish, although it was not.
Commenting on the issue of the newly cancelled Belene NPP project, the former Energy Minister argued that the electricity generated by the nuclear power plant would have been unacceptably expensive.
"A new nuclear power plant would produce very expensive electricity," Traikov noted.
Regarding the plans of the government to use the paid-for and already assembled reactor as a 7th unit at the Kozloduy NPP, he said that Bulgaria still had payments to make for the facility, but they were not as big as suggested.
He said that the best option for Bulgaria would be to sell the facility immediately and to order a new generation reactor.
As regards the impact of the suspended projects for the Bourgas-Alexandoupolis oil pipeline and the Belene NPP on the negotiations for a reduction of prices of Russian natural gas, Traikov insisted that "it is all a matter of tactics" and that a discount was achievable.
He stressed that Bulgaria had always been a loyal customer and partner of Russian Gazprom and had always paid its dues on time, as provided in the contracts.
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