Bulgaria is creating a natural gas hub at its Black Sea coast.
The Bulgarian Energy Ministry said that the state-owned company Bulgartransgaz signed a EUR 1.2 million (USD 1.5 million) contract with a Bulgarian-Swiss consortium for a feasibility study. The European Union has pledged to provide EUR 920,000 (USD 1.13 million) for the project.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the EU supports Bulgaria's plan "to be transformed from a transit country into a gas trading country."
The new project comes after the South Stream gas pipeline was scrapped in 2014. South Steam aimed to transport gas from Russia through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then to other European countries, bypassing Ukraine. The EU opposed it because Russia's Gazprom planned to operate the pipeline and sell the gas — violating EU anti-monopoly regulations.