The energy system is a crucial pawn in the chess of international politics and Eastern Europe is definitely still an emerging battleground for environmental and safety related policies to be introduced and respected.

Due to undergoing the preliminary steps towards admission into the European Union, Bulgaria was forced to shut down reactors 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. For decades, electricity provided by the nuclear reactors had given Bulgaria energetic independence and even the opportunity to give some of it to export. Prior to being shut down, the reactors 1 and 2, based on a very old soviet technology, were considered amongst the most dangerous in the world.

The international community stood ready to support Bulgaria at every step of the process, by providing professional assistance to the whole process of decommissioning, and also by providing economical aid. As the national Bulgarian energetic system received a powerful hit, the whole aid program was intended to fund alternatives and help reduce the overall economical impact.

One of the measures was to fund the construction of a new 80 km gas pipeline, connection Silistra (a town in the northeast of the country on the river Danube) to the national network for gas transmission. The total cost of the new pipeline reached €12.3 million, €9.3 of which have been provided as non-repayable financing by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF). Many European Union members count themselves as contributing members to support this fund, which is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The rest of the necessary budget was provided by the Bulgarian state company, Bulgartransgaz, the operator of the gas transmission network.

The high pressure gas pipeline, with a diameter of 350 mm and a transmission capacity of 100,000 cubic metres per hour, is intended to bring natural gas as an energetic alternative to the north-eastern part of the country, traditionally dependent on the energy produced at Kozloduy. The installation began to function starting from 9th October 2015.