Bulgaria’s PM Boyko Borissov met with Russia’s PM Dmitry Medvedev

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on August 12. The two had talks during the First Caspian Economic Forum, which is being held in Turkmenistan.

The Bulgarian PM stressed the importance of dialogue at the highest level and expressed satisfaction that after Medvedev's official visit to Bulgaria in March, the conversation about the possibilities for pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation is continuing now.

Prime Minister Borissov emphasized Bulgaria’s interest to have an equal and mutually beneficial bilateral political dialogue with the Russian Federation, guided by national interests and at the same time adhere to the common policy of the EU and NATO Member States.

Prime Minister Borisov emphasized the country’s willingnesss to continue to develop cooperation with Russia on priority issues in the economy, energy, tourism, transport, education, science and culture, social policy.

On the energy topic, which was one of the highlights of the Avaza talks, Prime Minister Borissov noted that Bulgaria pursues a policy aimed at ensuring energy security for both our country and the EU. The Bulgarian Prime Minister stressed that diversification is an important element in ensuring the security of gas supplies in the EU and added that Bulgaria is actively working on gas relations projects with neighbouring countries. Prime Minister Borissov paid special attention to the serious work of the Bulgarian government in connection with the implementation of the project for the Balkan gas distribution centre.

The possibility for realization of Belene Nuclear Power Plant project under the conditions set by the Bulgarian side was also discussed at the meeting. Applications for participation in the current procedure for selecting a strategic investor for the project are accepted until 19 August. According to Prime Minister Borissov, there will be a need for generatiion capacity in the region to generate electricity at affordable prices, taking into account the increasingly ambitious targets for reducing emissions in all sectors of the economy. In this sense, Belene NPP can become precisely such an electricity source for the region.

In connection with the cooperation in the area of transport, Borissov expressed Bulgaria’s interest to discuss the possibility of developing ferry connections between the Bourgas port and the Russian ports of the Caucasus and Novorossiysk for passenger ro-ro ferries.

Borissov expressed his satisfaction with the 16th meeting of the Bulgarian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. He expressed his expectation that the next session would take place in the near future and further contribute to the development of bilateral relations.