Five countries sign a Memorandum to increase the security of Natgas supplies to the EU and Central and South-Eastern Europe

In the presence of President Rumen Radev of Bulgaria and the visiting President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to promote cooperation between the gas transmission system operators of Bulgaria (Bulgartransgaz), Romania (Transgaz), Hungary (FGSZ) and Slovakia (Eustream) and Azerbaijan's SOCAR. Prepared under the Solidarity Ring (STRING) joint initiative, proposed by Bulgaria and supported by the European Commission, the Memorandum seeks to increase the security of natural gas supplies to the EU and Central and South-Eastern Europe. 

It was signed by Bulgarian Energy Minister Rossen Hristov, Romanian Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu, Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto, Slovak Economy Minister Karel Hirman and Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov. 

President Aliyev is visiting Bulgaria at the invitation of his counterpart Rumen Radev. The official delegation led by him includes representatives of the Azerbaijani government.

After the memorandum signing ceremony, the two Presidents are scheduled to officially open a SOCAR office in Sofia. 

In their remarks on the occasion, the two Presidents highlighted its strategic importance and the closer cooperation between the participating countries.