The Bulgarian government has already secretly signed a contract with Turkish company Setgaz to build a link between the gas networks of the two countries, according to Bulgargaz ex-boss Vasil Filipov.

"Cabinet has not made it public, but it has already contracted Setgaz Dogalgaz - a private company that has the full support of the Turkish government - to build the connection," said the former chair of the Bulgarian state gas company Wednesday.

He added that there is nothing worrisome in the fact that the contract has not been announced, at this is regular practice.

According to Filipov, the natural gas pipe is to reach Stara Zagora in Bulgaria's south, and will carry 5-6 B cubic meters of gas yearly.

He said that provisional contracts with Setgaz have been signed in August, with money needed to fund the project already available and the pipe expected to be finished by the end of 2014 as planned.

Turkish company Setgaz Dogalgaz's main business is the import, export and wholesale of natural gas. It had already expressed an interest in building the connection in 2009.

In April, Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Delyan Dobrev had said that Turkish companies have expressed interest in selling natural gas to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has embarked on building links to the gas systems of neighboring Turkey, Greece and Romania to decrease energy dependence on Russia, which supplies it with some 90% of its natural gas demand.

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