Prime Minister Kiril Petkov: Greece-Bulgaria interconnector will be ready in the middle of the year and will ensure real diversification

National corruption is used as a tool by foreign countries like Russia to influence internal stability and politics and create dependencies. That is why the fight against corruption is so important. This message was addressed by the Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in his speech at the Seventh Economic Forum in Delphi. The Prime Minister was adamant that a serious discussion was needed not only at the national level, but also at the regional, European and global levels, because the current situation with the war in Ukraine has clearly shown the nature of the regime in Russia, from which no one wants to be dependent.

The Prime Minister gave an example of corruption in Bulgaria. Petkov pointed out that our country is one of the most dependent on Russia in the field of energy, but at the same time in the last ten years not enough has been done for diversification. The Prime Minister compared Turkish Stream to the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector and pointed out that while the implementation of the much more expensive project, which does not bring real diversification, has accelerated in the past, the other project is still unfinished after nearly 10 years. The Prime Minister assured that at the moment the interconnector is being seriously worked on and it will be ready in the middle of this year and our country will have a real diversification, which will be beneficial for the whole region.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov stressed the importance of joint efforts in the fight against corruption and irregularities, as well as in the energy sector. We must have a strong and united position, Petkov was categorical. According to him, transparency is among the key principles in this direction. According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, it would be good to have the opportunity at European level to investigate not only the misuse of EU funds, but also the fight against money laundering and cross-border crime, for example.

In his speech, Prime Minister Petkov also pointed out that the risk of instability in the Western Balkans is another potential conduit for Russia's foreign policy. For this reason, strong preventive actions are needed in our region. It is time to show together that the Balkans are a symbol of coordination, the Bulgarian Prime Minister was categorical.