Romania is actively supporting the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and immediate actions and concrete steps are needed in order to accomplish this thing, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu stated at the official opening of the ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku.

"This morning I have participated in the official opening of the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis and Commissioner Kadri Simson attended this ceremony, occasion on which they conveyed important messages regarding the construction of the future design of the energy market, in the current geopolitical context," the minister wrote on his Facbook page.

According to him, Klaus Iohannis underscored the importance of Romanian-Azerbaijani partnership and conveyed that our country "pledged its continuous commitment to be part of the efforts aimed at developing and expanding the Corridor towards new markets in Central and South-East Europe." President Iohannis underscored that Romania remains "highly interested in accessing additional volumes of Caspian gas to cover our own growing national consumption."

"Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev also reiterated the commitment to support through concrete projects the desideratum of achieving energy security. It will be an important day, in which alongside Azerbaijani, Georgian and Hungarian partners we will establish the concrete framework to achieve the project of the submarine cable for energy transmission through the Black Sea. Moreover, within the speech I delivered at the ministerial meeting, I have conveyed again that Romania is actively supporting the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and immediate actions and concrete steps are needed in order to achieve this thing. Moreover, I also proposed to have semestrial meetings in order to draft a concrete expansion plan. Any proposal for an additional gas transmission project in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans is welcomed, taking into account that the availability of gas shall be one of the greatest challenges of 2023," the Energy minister underscored.

He mentioned that Romania has an operational and viable transmission infrastructure of natural gas which can contribute to the regional energy security, to the implementation of the development plans of the Southern Gas Corridor and the transmission of Azerbaijani gas on regional markets.

"In these unprecedented times of volatility and transition, the partnerships between governments and energy companies remain essentials in order to ensure an open dialogue on an agenda which needs to stimulate investments, energy security, transaction and innovation," the minister also wrote on his Facebook page.

An official delegation led by President Klaus Iohannis is in Baku, where the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council takes place.

The Romanian delegation is made up of Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Eduard Hellvig, Presidential Advisers Cosmin Marinescu, Luminita Odobescu, Daniela Barsan and Delia Dinu.

The 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku is also attended by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, as well as officials from many countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Georgia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia. AGERPRES (RO - author: Nicoleta Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Adina Panaitescu)