Finance Ministry: Romania backs Vertical Gas Corridor as durable pillar of European Energy Security

Romania backs the Vertical Gas Corridor as a durable pillar of European energy security and the immediate priority is consolidating the main natural gas transport route from Greece to Romania, via Bulgaria, said Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, who participates in the P-TEC Partnership for Transatlantic Economic Cooperation Forum.   ”The first day at P-TEC - Partnership for Transatlantic Economic Cooperation, an event devoted to consolidating economic cooperation between Europe and the United States, organized in Athens. Talks focused on strategic investments, energy tranzition and the new fiscal policies needed to back sustainable economic growth in global context,” the finance minister wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday. The minister met Chris White, the US secretary for energy, and discussed the Vertical Energy Corridor initiative, a strageic project backed by Romania since 2016.   “We pointed out that Romania backs the Vertical Corridor as a durable pillar of European energy security. Our immediate priority is consolidating Route 1 (main route for natural gas transport from Greece to Romania, through Bulgaria, the basic component of the Vertical Corridor), which proved technical feasibility and commercial competitiveness , by reducing prices at interconnection points with Moldova,” Nazare said.   Talks also had in view the expansion of routes 2 and 3 (complementary routes that have in view to diversify energy flows, Route 2 connecting Romania to Ukraine and Moldova's energy infrastructure, while Route 3 has in view the expansion of energy connections to the Black Sea and the Caspian area), in a calibrated frame, based on European grants and transatlantic financial instruments, combining efficiency with fiscal responsibility, the finance minister also showed.   “In this context, we launched the idea of organzing a similar event in Bucharest, to develop topics of today's dialogue. From the perspective of the Finance Ministry, Romania remains engaged in a balanced approach – strategic engagement anchored in fiscal responsibility, accent being laid on the efficient use of European funds and cooperation with American financial institutions,” said the source.   The head of Finance also met Jarrod Agen , executive manager of the American Council for Energy Dominance on Thursday. They continued talks initiated in Washington last month, about the Romanian-American partnership in the field of energy.