Ukraine and Bulgaria have agreed on the development of the so-called "Vertical Gas Corridor," which is intended to enhance the region's energy security and increase gas transportation volumes. This was announced by Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, as reported by UNN.
Details
The agreement was reached at the level of state leadership – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov.
The project's implementation will significantly expand access to diversified sources of natural gas supply
It is expected that after the project's completion, the route's capacity could reach approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year. This will also open up opportunities for wider use of Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities.
In parallel, Ukraine is expanding other gas supply routes. In particular, the Polish route provides access to LNG terminals in Poland, Lithuania, and Germany, as well as to Norwegian gas via Baltic Pipe.
According to the minister, an agreement has already been reached to increase import capacity from Poland to 6.7 billion cubic meters per year by the end of April, and negotiations are ongoing regarding further expansion of this route.
The Ministry of Energy emphasizes that such steps will reduce dependence on individual supply sources, strengthen Ukraine's energy resilience, and deepen integration with the European energy market.