Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary have committed to completing the gas pipeline (BRUA) connecting their gas networks, Romanian energy minister Toma Petcu said.

The four countries signed yesterday the memorandum agreement in Bucharest.

“We are in a very advanced stage with the BRUA project,” Petcu said, reports local Agerpres.

The contracts for the construction stage have already been signed and the actual work could kick off next spring. The four countries have agreed that BRUA would be a reverse-flow gas interconnection, namely in both ways, the minister added.

The minister’s statements are surprising given that Hungary announced in summer that the gas pipeline that should have connected Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria (BRUA) would stop in Hungary. The BRUA pipeline is important for the future gas exploitation projects in the Black Sea as it would allow Romania to export gas to Western Europe.

editor@romania-insider.com