Albania’s natural gas supplier Albgaz and Bulgaria’s Overgas signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tirana to cooperate on projects that will diversify natural gas supplies in the Balkans.
“This Memorandum opens a new window of opportunities for cooperation between our companies, which share the same goals for energy security and diversification of sources,” said Albgaz CEO Arber Avrami.
He highlighted that for Albania, this MoU is another proof of how ambitious projects can mitigate the effects of energy crises. In particular, Albania is committed to providing access to gas projects such as the planned Vlora LNG Terminal.
As a 50 per cent shareholder in Overgas, US-based company Linden Energy was also present at the signing ceremony.
“This project marks the first step in a private-led effort, strongly supported by the Albanian and US governments, to create a new energy corridor that could help all Balkan countries, as well as the Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova, reduce their dependence on Russian natural gas,” said Matthew Bryza, Overgas board member and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, currently chairman of the Linden Energy Advisory Board underlined how, in a time of great uncertainty in the European energy market, his team is dealing directly with the issue.
“The Balkan region is one of the most vulnerable to the lack of energy diversity and the signing of this memorandum of understanding is a strong step in the right direction,” he stated.
