Skopje, 25 March 2022 (MIA) – The North Macedonia-Bulgaria working group on infrastructure, transport and energy discussed Friday the options of “Bulgartransgaz” negotiating additional gas quantities but also reservation of capacities for North Macedonia in the gas storage sites at the territory of Bulgaria. Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said a meeting between countries’ energy companies is to be held April 6-7 in order to speed up the process. Bulgarian Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov did not say whether Bulgaria would extend the agreement on gas procurement with Russia’s “Gazprom” after 2022 but provided assurances that North Macedonia would receive gas deliveries, since the country gets its gas quantities through Bulgaria. Nikolov said alternative ways to procure gas must be found in order to minimize dependency from Russia. Extension of the interconnector Petrich-Strumica up to Negotino thermal power plant could be a long-term solution for North Macedonia’s gas supplies, an issue discussed at today’s meeting. Bekteshi said the country’s participation in the Alexandroupolis gas terminal was another long-term solution. “Considering the energy crisis, we discussed the opportunities to speed up projects. We will not stop here and continue with more projects, so that both countries benefit from the investments. We also referred to the realization of the cooperation memorandum over networking of countries’ markets in 2023,” Bekteshi told a joint press conference. He highlighted the importance of stimulating Corridor 8 cooperation, not only in the road and railway infrastructure sections but also in the energy sector. Regarding the crisis resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Bekteshi said North Macedonia stood firmly behind EU’s decisions. “North Macedonia and Bulgaria are exchanging all information and ways to manage the energy crisis and the new developments arising from the conflict in Ukraine. We focus on implementing as many projects with Bulgaria as possible,” said Bekteshi. Nikolov added that both countries would properly manage the present challenges. “Hard times always reveal true friends. There are enormous opportunities but risks must be monitored. Bulgaria is here to help North Macedonia not only from a technical aspect, but also in the part of infrastructure,” underlined Nikolov.