Pipeline rupture halts gas flows from Bulgaria to Greece

A rupture in a pipeline in southwest Bulgaria halted the transit of Russian natural gas through Bulgaria to Greece, the head state gas company Bulgartransgaz said.

Vladimir Malinov said there were no casualties in the accident, which damaged part of the pipeline close to the border with Greece but did not cause a fire. He said the company was already working to repair it.

“There was a rupture in the pipeline that was transporting gas under high pressure. The damaged section was automatically sealed off after a drop in pressure was registered,” he said.

The reasons for the accident are yet to be fully investigated, but he said a technical problem was the most likely reason.

Bulgaria transports about 3 billion cubic metres of Russian gas to Greece a year.

Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova, editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans

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