Two American financiers, with support from a former campaign manager of US President Donald Trump, have approached Bulgarian authorities to discuss a possible investment in a state-owned underground storage filled mostly with Russian natural gas, according to five people familiar with the matter.

Led by Stephen P. Lynch, a Florida financier who has been trying to buy a gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany, and another US investor, Fei Wang, the group is considering ways to participate in a multi-million-euro government plan aimed at doubling the capacity of Bulgaria’s sole underground gas storage, known as Chiren, the people familiar with the matter said.

Allied with Brad Parscale, who worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, the group would like to harness additional storage capacity at Chiren to transform Bulgaria into a gas hub serving parts of Eastern Europe, the people said.

Storage sites are strategic assets in the gas industry, allowing operators to manage big seasonal swings in demand and capitalize on price fluctuations: buying gas when prices are low and releasing it when they are higher.

With or without US investors, Chiren could play a critical role in the coming years as Greece, Serbia, Hungary, and other countries in Eastern Europe debate whether to keep buying gas from Russia or increase imports from other suppliers, including the United States. (Reuters)

Source: Ekathimerini.com