EWRC Chairman Plamen Mladenovski participated as an official guest at the progress inspection of Vertical Gas Corridor /VGC/ construction near the Bulgarian-Greek border - in the area of the village of Mikrevo in Strumyani Municipality. EWRC member Blagoy Golubarev also attended the event.

The official inspection of the gas pipeline was conducted by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov, Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto, Greece's Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, as well as representatives of partnership countries - Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova.

The Vertical gas corridor is a joint initiative of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia. The aim is to guarantee the security and continuity of energy supplies, providing access to diversified sources of natural gas supply for both Bulgaria and the countries in the region of South-Eastern Europe. The implementation will provide an opportunity for the transportation of increasing natural gas flows in a south-to-north direction - from Greece through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, with the possibility of reaching Ukraine.

In the Bulgarian part, the project foresees increasing transmission capacity from Greece to Bulgaria by 50% on the first stage – up to 3.6 billion cubic meters per year, as well as the possibility of reverse flow. The second phase is expected to double the capacity toward Romania to 10 billion cubic meters per year. There are three main sections on Bulgarian territory - Kulata-Kresna, Piperevo-Pernik and Rupcha-Vetrino. Therefore, the country is taking a decisive step towards a more secure, connected and energy independent system.

In response to an invitation, EWRC Chairman Plamen Mladenovski and EWRC member Blagoy Golubarev visited a natural gas compressor station near the village of Poleto, Simitli municipality. The facility has a capacity of 20 million cubic meters and provides an opportunity for the supply of compressed gas to areas without a built-in gas transmission infrastructure. In this way, energy source is provided to household customers and industrial enterprises in Bansko, Razlog, Gotse Delchev, as well as in the towns of Strumica, Delchevo and Shtip in the Republic of North Macedonia.