The energy ministers of Bulgaria and Romania, Temenuzhka Petkova and Andrei Gerea, and the foreign ministers of the two countries, Daniel Mitov and Bogdan Aurescu, have signed a joint declaration on regional energy cooperation.

The two countries welcome the ongoing construction of the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) as the first pillar of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is to bring energy supplies from the Caspian region and Central Asia to Europe, according to the declaration, as cited by the press office of the Bulgarian government.

The declaration also emphasizes the will of the two countries to strengthen partnership with Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to achieve more competitive and more diversified gas supply patterns.

Bulgaria and Romania say that they will continue joint efforts aimed at completing the Romania-Bulgaria gas grid interconnector and implementing the Vertical Gas Corridor project intended to connect countries in Central and Southeastern Europe to the Southern Gas Corridor.

The two countries vow to strive to develop domestic energy production and LNG supplies in a bid to increase their energy independence.

During the meeting of Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova with her Romanian counterpart Andrei Gerea the two agreed that the achievement of a diversification of gas supply sources and routes for Southeastern Europe was a priority issue.

Petkova said that the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor would enable Bulgaria and Romania to access existing LNG terminals, as well as ones under construction.

The two ministers agreed that the Vertical Gas Corridor would secure uninterrupted gas deliveries between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Petkova acquainted Gerea with the implementation of the Bulgaria-Greece gas grid interconnector project, stressing that construction works were scheduled to start in March 2016 and the pipeline was to be built by 2018.

As regards the Bulgaria-Romania gas grid interconnector, the two energy ministers were unanimous in their opinion that its implementation was to be wrapped up by end-2015.

Petkova and Gerea drew attention to the excellent cooperation between Bulgaria’s state-owned gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz and Romania’s state-owned gas grid operator Transgaz on the construction of the gas grid interconnector.