Bulgaria and Italy would develop a project to build a gas pipeline connecting the two countries, according to a memorandum contracted by Italian company Enel executive director Fulvio Conty and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz executive director Lyubomir Denchev.

The pipeline would pass through Macedonia and Albania. It would probably parallel the US company AMBO’s  Bourgas-Vlora oil pipeline, Banker newspaper said.

Denchev said that if the new gas pipeline followed the Bourgas-Vlora layout, Bulgaria and Italy would save money and it would be better for the environment.

The EU’s increasing need for natural gas made necessary the construction of additional gas infrastructure, Conti said, as quoted by Banker.

Denchev said that the gas pipeline would probably transfer Russian gas.

The research had to be ready in a year, Banker said.