Rumen Radev: Vertical gas corridor leads us to much more mature stage of interregional cooperation

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev expressed confidence that the number of participants in the Vertical Gas Corridor will increase.

According to Report, the Bulgarian president expressed this opinion at the event "Vertical Corridor: Europe's New Energy Highway" held in the country's pavilion at COP29 in Baku.

"We need to do everything to increase our competitiveness, diversification, and reliability of supplies. And the Vertical Gas Corridor leads us to the next, much more mature stage of interregional cooperation. I believe that the concept of this corridor provides us with a much wider range of opportunities and freedom of action for both our countries and our partners and allies, such as Romania. And we are very pleased that Moldova and Ukraine have joined us. I am confident that the number of countries will increase," he said.

Radev noted that several years ago, the European Union set the most ambitious decarbonization goals, but a series of serious crises, such as COVID-19, the energy crisis, and the war in Ukraine, disrupted the supply chain, and energy prices rose sharply.

"As a result, our competitiveness began to decline. Given all these circumstances, we need to achieve some important results for the Vertical Corridor. First of all, to increase competitiveness, which is the main European goal, and within the process of transition to a zero-emission economy – this is quite an ambitious task," he said.

The Bulgarian President added that the participants of the Vertical Gas Corridor need to utilize all resources at their disposal. "We need to use our geographical capabilities, our science and innovation. And this is what we are doing today," he emphasized.

Radev stressed that gas will remain the main fuel in the transition process for the coming decades. "We also need to move to a new level, and we are doing this together. And this (transition) is to environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel," he concluded.