Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov meet members of the Greek business community in Athens on November 24 2009 at an event organised by the Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria (HBCB) and the Bulgarian embassy in Athens.
 
The meeting evolved around bilateral business issues, as well as the perspectives, challenges and opportunities of Greek-Bulgarian business relations, the HBCB said in a media statement.
 
Also present at the meeting Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov, the Bulgarian Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Rossen Plenveliev, the ambassador of Bulgaria in Athens, Andrey Karaslavov, and the ambassador of Greece in Sofia, Danae Koumanakou.
 
The meeting also included representatives of major Greek investors in Bulgaria, including Cosmote, Coca-Cola Hellenic, Hellenic Petroleum, the National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Eurobank, S&B Industrial Minerals, the Fourlis Group of Companies, Intracom Telecom, Intralot and TERNA.
 
The event was supported by V+O COMMUNICATION, Eurobank and Hellenic Petroleum, and was hosted by the CEO of EKO Bulgaria and President of HBCB, Ioannis Polykandriotis, the HBCB said.
 
Bulgarian media reported that at a meeting with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias, Purvanov called for new checkpoints on the border with Greece and for faster work on the
Stara Zagora - Dimitrovgrad - Komotini natural gas system interconnection.
 
Greek newspaper Vima said that Papoulias had said that the energy centre in the region had moved towards Greece and Bulgaria with the construction of Burgas–Alexandroupolis pipeline and South Stream pipeline, according to a report by Bulgarian news agency Focus.
 
"We can turn into main center in energy supply to Europe, into international players in the world energy sector," Papoulias said.
 
Vima said that the Greek government would table in parliament in December the final draft bill on Burgas–Alexandroupolis pipeline.
 
Despite reservations that had been expressed about the benefits of the agreement and the complicated problems about its environmental impact, it appears that construction will go ahead.
 
The draft bill will cover an agreement on co-operation between the international project company and the participating countries on tax payments, taxes and compensation to be paid to Bulgaria and Greece, as well as environmental protection issues.
 
The next phase envisages further research on the issuing of necessary licenses, acquisition of the necessary areas, signing of contracts on the financing of the project and the signing of agreements on construction, Focus said.
 
Purvanov and Papoulias also discussed regional foreign policy issues such as Macedonia and Kosovo, Purvanov told journalists.
 
An agreement on co-operation in education, science and culture was signed with the two heads of state in attendance.
 
Purvanov was scheduled to meet George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister and foreign minister, for a working lunch on November 25.