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Six ministers express support to EastMed pipeline

29/01/2021 09:11

Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia have expressed their support to the EastMed pipeline in a joint statement issued by their Energy Ministers following a video conference, on Thursday.

The six Ministers had the conference following an initiative by the Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, with a view to enhancing energy cooperation and exploring the opportunities and advantages of the East Med Gas Pipeline, a Cyprus Energy Ministry press release says.

In the joint statement, the Ministers “recognize the importance of natural gas as a crucial "bridge fuel" that will facilitate their long-term energy transition towards a dramatic reduction of their carbon footprint.2

In this context the Ministers note that “enhancing the security of natural gas supply to Southeastern and Central Europe can be guaranteed through the diversification of alternative supply sources and routes.”

“With this in mind, the Ministers expressed their support for the East-Med Gas Pipeline Project, which will utilize regional gas infrastructure such as the IGB, the IBS, the IBR, the IRH and others,” the statement reads.

“This project represents a viable and strategic option for increasing the security of gas supply for the regions of Southeastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Central Mediterranean including Italy,” it says.

To maximize the benefit of cooperation, the Ministers also discussed best ways to foster collective activities and collaboration in the areas of renewable energy, fuel alternatives, encouraging innovation and joint pilot projects and agreed to convene another Ministerial Meeting in the near future to discuss tangible ways of operationalizing their cooperation and set up an ad hoc working group at the experts level to offer technical assistance to the Ministers.

During the meeting Ministers had the opportunity to showcase their energy policies. Cyprus Minister of Energy Natasa Pilides presented Cyprus’ strategic goals in the fields of hydrocarbons, renewable energy sources and energy saving.

She explained that aiming to gradually transition to green energy, Cyprus promotes through a national action plan for energy and climate 2030 specific policies and measures, including support programmes for the period 2021 – 2027 which will start soon and are of a value of over €180 million.

Cyprus is also working to lift soon its energy isolation, among others through Eu common interest programmes, the EastMed gas pipeline, infrastructure on the liquefaction of natural gas in Vassiliko and the connection by electric cable of Israel, Cyprus and Greece, known as EuroAsia Interconnector.