Energy ministers from Vertical Gas Corridor countries to meet in US next month

Energy ministers from countries participating in the Vertical Gas Corridor initiative, which supplies natural gas from Greece to Southeastern Europe and Ukraine, will meet in Washington at the end of February, said Greek Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Europe, Eurasia, Africa, and the Middle East Joshua Volz during their speeches at the Athens Energy Summit, Report informs.

The statements were distributed by the forum's organizers.

Volz emphasized that the project brings together countries that have historically not cooperated, and this is precisely the main challenge: "Designing and laying pipelines through the mountains is the easy part. The hard part is convincing partners to commit. If the project isn't commercially viable, it won't be profitable for anyone."

According to him, the necessary coordination covers the route from Greece to Ukraine, and all participants must see a clear economic benefit: "This is not a charity project. The corridor is already operational, but so far, only a few drops of gas are flowing. We want to move towards a real gas flow."

He announced that a ministerial meeting will be held in Washington at the end of February to discuss existing issues, and consultations to advance the project will continue intensively and on an ongoing basis until the end of the year.

The Vertical Gas Corridor project (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine) envisages the creation of a gas supply route from Eastern Mediterranean terminals to Moldova and Ukraine.

The Vertical Gas Corridor system is expected to facilitate gas deliveries from Greece to underground gas storage facilities in Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, and Ukraine.

The resource base for supplies will be Azerbaijani gas delivered to Greece via the Southern Gas Corridor, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivered to Greek terminals from around the world.

Thus, the key components of the Vertical Gas Corridor will be the LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli, the modernized repeatable gas supply station on Revithoussa Island, and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).