Bulgaria PM: Shah Deniz 2 Is Step towards Gas Supply Diversification Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski attended Tuesday the signing ceremony of the final investment decision on the Shah Deniz-2 project in Baku. Apart from attending the official ceremony, Oresharski also met with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. "Today we made a real step for the diversification of gas supplies to Bulgaria," Oresharski declared, as cited by the press office of the Bulgarian government. He thanked for the invitation and described the ceremony as historic. Bulgaria's Prime Minister also met with Ilham Aliyev at the presidential residence. "Energy is only a part of our bilateral relations and it could be a very powerful catalyst for their development," Aliyev declared. Oresharski commented that the ceremony had provided good opportunities for discussions with the leaders of the different countries participating in the project. "Energy projects are only the beginning of our good partnership" Aliyev said. Azerbaijan's President noted that Bulgaria was the main partner in the first stage of the development of the Shah Deniz project, adding that Bulgaria could switch from a consumer of gas supplies into a transit country. "We are number one investor in Georgia, we invest in Switzerland, Romania, Russia, and in France," Aliev emphasized, adding that they had a policy of investing only in countries which had signed an agreement with the government. He pointed out that the two countries could cooperate on the gasification of Bulgaria. During the meeting, the two discussed the opportunities of launching an airline connecting Bulgaria to Azerbaijan in a bid to intensify contacts between the two countries and boost investments and tourist numbers. The agenda of the meeting also included talks on the opportunities for partnership and investment in the spheres of gasification, the banking sector and tourism. Oresharski and Aliyev agreed on a meeting of the Intergovernmental Bulgaria-Azerbaijan Commission in 2014, prior to which the sectors of cooperation would be specified.