Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, hosted the energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania at a meeting to discuss the Green Energy Corridor, an initiative to bring green energy from the South Caucasus to Europe, in Budapest on Monday.

Minister Szijjártó noted that the Green Energy Corridor involved the construction of a 1,100km-long cable under the Caspian Sea. He added that a joint venture had already been established for the initiative by companies in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Azerbaijan, and a Bulgarian partner would join by the deadline.

Minister Szijjártó said the sides had heard a progress report on the feasibility study for the project which could be completed by the end of June.

He pointed to an increase in demand for green energy. He said Hungary was boosting nuclear and solar capacity, but also wanted to boost imports of green energy.

More than EUR 10bn will be ploughed into the the project that will improve the competitiveness of the region, he said, adding that plans to lay an optical cable were also being weighed.