Azerbaijan President Arrives in Bulgaria Accompanied by Key Gov't Members

Azerbaijan's President Alham Aliyev is on a visit to Sofia along with ministers of foreign affairs, transport economy, energy and communication.

Aliyev comes at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Rosen Plevneliev. His visit follows the two statesmen's meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, in September of last year when they pledged increased bilateral cooperation in energy.  

Back then Plevneliev attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Southern Gas Corridor, a system of pipes part of which will pass near Bulgaria's territory.

Bulgaria is now eyeing to avail of the prospective pipeline that will pump natural gas from Azerbaijan, and in September signed agreements on gas deliveries though they did not involve concrete parameters.

Sofia at the same time hopes to attain energy diversification through its interconnection grid to reduce dependence from Russian resources.