Ukraine and the Republic of Bulgaria have agreed to develop the Vertical Gas Corridor, which will significantly expand natural gas transmission capacities and enhance energy security in the South-Eastern European region. The agreement was reached by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Bulgaria Andrey Gyurov.
The Vertical Gas Corridor project will ensure access to diversified sources of natural gas supply for countries in the region. As noted by Denys Shmyhal, once completed, the route’s capacity could reach approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It will also create additional opportunities for expanding cooperation in gas supply and storage, including through the use of Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities.
Denys Shmyhal further emphasized that, in parallel, the Ministry of Energy continues active efforts to develop other promising routes for natural gas supply to Ukraine. In particular, the Polish route provides access to LNG terminals in Poland, Lithuania, and Germany, as well as to Norwegian gas resources via the Baltic Pipe.
“An agreement has been reached with Polish partners to increase gas import capacity to 6.7 billion cubic meters per year by the end of April this year. Negotiations are ongoing regarding further expansion of this route,” he noted.
He added that the implementation of these initiatives will provide Ukraine with access to diversified gas sources, strengthen the energy security of both the country and the region, and contribute to Ukraine’s deeper integration into the European energy market and the European Union.
