This will be an important step in the Vertical Corridor initiative to increase natural gas transportation to Moldova and Ukraine.
Currently, the Trans-Balkan pipeline is used in reverse mode to transport gas as Route 1.
Route 2 will start at the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal in Greece and run through Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova to Ukraine. This route will provide direct access to liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Route 3 starts at the TAP and IGB pipeline interconnection and follows the same route as Route 2 to Moldova and on to Ukraine.
According to ExPro Daily Gas, natural gas deliveries to Ukraine via Route 1 began in July 2025. During the first two weeks of August, import volumes increased to 416,000 cubic meters per day. In total, more than 10m cu.m. of gas was transported in July and the first half of August.
However, the problem of high cost of transportation through the Vertical Corridor, which is much higher than the price of supplies from European countries to Romania and further to Moldova and Ukraine, remains unsolved. As a result, all Vertical Corridor operators agreed to a 25% discount from the standard monthly tariff, with ICGB and Operator GTS Ukraine providing the highest discount in the region at 46%.
The price has decreased slightly, but still remains excessively high.
