World Bulletin / News Desk

Bulgaria aims to start a natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Bulgaria by 2016, Ivan Ayolov, Bulgaria's deputy energy minister said Wednesday.

Negotiations between delegates from Bulgaria and Turkey are continuing with the hope that the 114 kilometers pipeline project will be completed in a short space of time with the countries jointly undertaking the construction.

"The pipeline will carry 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey, but it could increase to 5 billion," Ayolov said.

He stated that Bulgaria is focused on the construction of energy pipelines to its neighboring countries such as Turkey, Romania and Greece. A gas line connection between Bulgaria and Romania will be finished in June which will ensure that the country can provide an 80 day gas supply from its domestic resources, Ayolov said.

Bulgaria currently receives 90 percent of its gas supply from Russia, and with the crisis in Ukraine, Bulgaria worries that there could be a disruption to the flow of gas through the pipelines.