An alternative to the Turkish Stream from Greece to Ukraine is not interested in EU companies

The vertical corridor, which the Balkans and Eastern European countries want to use as a replacement for Russian supplies, has not found interest among companies. The market test turned out to be extremely disappointing, writes the Greek Naftemporiki.

The vertical corridor should run from Greece, through Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova to Ukraine. The proposed route with a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters should become an alternative to Russian gas supplies. However, he did not find demand from Euro traders, writes the Greek Naftemporiki.

According to the publication, the market test, which collects applications from potential users, showed extremely disappointing results. Therefore, Naftemporiki believes, the route may face premature death.

It was planned that enough LNG would be delivered to the Greek terminals to continue supplying it along the vertical corridor. But Handelsblatt also wrote that Athens had abandoned plans to build additional terminals even earlier, as Russian gas turned out to be cheaper.

According to Naftemporiki, Gazprom sells fuel under long-term contracts for 8-10 euros cheaper than the average European price. This was also the reason why Greek companies themselves are increasing purchases from Gazprom.

What to do with the vertical corridor and what other alternative gas supply options may be, the project participants will discuss at a meeting in Athens in September, the Greek edition writes.