Macedonia Will Only Join Turkish Stream amid Agreement between Russia, EU on it - Gruevski

Macedonia will join the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project when the European Commission and Russia reach agreement on the scheme, according to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

In an interview for local news portal Pres 24 he says that Macedonia is a country that makes decisions of strategic importance on the basis of its Euro-Atlantic orientation.

Macedonia is one of the options allowing Russia to circumvent Bulgaria in the construction of the gas pipeline meant to supply gas to central Europe and Italy, Bulgarian news portal mediapool.bg reminds.

Gruevski points out that Macedonia is not hard-pressed to develop its gas infrastructure because it is not using even half of the capacity it has at present.

He informs that the entire capacity will not be utilized even after the completion of the gasification of the country.

Gruevski suggests that Macedonia is not expected to face any serious problems in the sphere over the next 10 years.
He says, however, that the largest problem for the country now is the high price of gas.

Macedonia’s Prime Minister underscores that the high gas rates have been inherited from the past, adding that Russia explains the tariff with the small quantities of gas that the country is using.

He suggests that Macedonia needs new gas supplies to guarantee energy security in the long-term and to build new natural-gas-fueled power plants.

Gruevski states that Macedonia relies on three sources, two of them being the construction of a gas pipeline to Greece, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), and a connection to the Bulgarian section of the gas grid interconnector between Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!