LONDON, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
At a special meeting in Budapest on September 9th, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, Energy Commissioner, Miguel Arias Cañete, and Energy Ministers from 12 EU and Energy Community countries in Central and South Eastern Europe, gathered to share updates on the progress of the European Commission Initiative on Central and South-Eastern European Gas Connectivity (CESEC).
During this prestigious gathering, the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) Connecting Europe Facility Grant agreement of €179 million was signed. In addition, the relevant Government representatives and Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary signed joint statements on cooperation for gas projects along the "Vertical Corridor" spanning their territories. Furthermore, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the TSOs from Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece on reverse flows on the Trans Balkan Pipeline (TBP) crowned a productive day for European natural gas stakeholders.
Meanwhile, in Paris on September 14th, Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee led a delegation from the world's largest gas producer to hold talks with his counterpart, Jean-Bernard Levy, Chairman and CEO of EDF as well as Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENGIE. Gazprom and EDF focused talks on creating new routes for Russian gas exports to Europe in the light of the resumed TurkStream project with Turkey's BOTAS.
There is little doubt that the race to secure market share for the future of European gas supply is significantly increasing. Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman, Gazprom will deliver a keynote address to the 31st European Autumn Gas Conference (EAGC) this November 14-16 in The Hague focusing on Russian proximity and pricing. Joining Mr. Medvedev at the EAGC's World Forum venue will be Marjan van Loon, President-Director, Shell Netherlands as well as senior executives from Statoil, ENGIE, Uniper, RWE, BP, WINGAS GmbH, Cheniere, GasTerra, Total, Iberdrola, Gasunie, ACER, KVGN, Nord Stream-2 and others to debate the critical natural gas issues for Europe in a post COP-21 world. This November's EAGC will provide Europe's premier meeting platform to engage in high-level business networking and knowledge-sharing for gas traders, operators, TSOs, regulators, analysts and consultants in shaping Europe's energy future. Comprehensive updates can be found at: http://www.theeagc.com
