Sofia, 1 October 2022 (MIA) — The commissioning ceremony for the Greece – Bulgaria natural gas interconnector was opened Saturday by Bulgarian acting Prime Minister Galab Donev, MIA’s Sofia correspondent reports. In his speech, Donev said the gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria would greatly benefit not only the economies of Bulgaria and Greece but also of the region. Held at Sofia’s National Palace fo Culture, the event is hosted by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. Attendees include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who entered the hall together with Radev and North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski. They were followed by Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev as well as Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, MIA’s correspondent writes. Also attending is EU’s Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. The interconnector has a total length of 182 km (140 km of which on Bulgarian territory) and connects the gas transmission systems of Bulgaria and Greece, including the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline. The total worth of the gas pipeline is over 240 million euros. mr/