Greece, US, Bulgaria discuss TAP and IGB pipeline projects
During the meeting, Skoutletis proposed improving the terms of TAP through Greece both for the state and local societies, while regarding the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline project IGB a new meeting -at ministerial level- will be held next week in Sofia.
The Greek minister said the TAP project was of huge strategic importance, adding: "As a government we inherited the terms of the agreement, which in our opinion should be better for the Greek side. We have reached a critical point. We wish to contribute to speed-up procedures but after improving the benefits for Greece -as much as it can be now".
The Greek side raised compensation issues for forest areas and state property and more action by the consortium in the field of corporate social responsibility.
The Greek minister raised issues regarding funding and viability of the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline project and said that all sides agreed on the importance of the project. "We renewed our meeting with the Bulgarian side next week in Sofia," Skourletis said, adding: "I think there is the will to speed up the project and to help become a reality. This needs creating terms of economic viability. We hope to have a more clear landscape next month".
Amos Hochstein said there was significant progress regarding the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline and urged the Greek government and TAP to openly discuss pending issues and to find solutions the soonest possible. "The US wants to continue working with Greece for the country's energy security but mostly on the role to be played by Greece as a strategic partner in the region," the US official said.
"We had a very good discussion, bilateral with Greece and tri-party with our colleague from Bulgaria. There was significant progress on the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline and discussions were useful. We hope to reach an agreement soon, as the minister said. Regarding TAP the Greek minister was right to say it was a strategic project. There are some details needed to be resolved, between TAP and the Greek government. We encourage both sides to discuss openly, so to reach a solution. All sides agree to that and acknowledge the significance of reaching an agreement soon. It was my first meeting with the new minister, I leave with the confidence that we will have a strategic partnership and we will continue to cooperate very close as in the past," Hochstein noted.
