14.02.2012

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov met today in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for economy Ali Babacan, and with the Minister of Energy Taner Yildiz.

The meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Babacan was in the context of the forthcoming joint meeting of the Bulgarian and Turkish cabinets to be held in March in Sofia. The main topic of the talks between the two Deputy Prime Ministers was the expansion of trade and investment between both countries. The possiblities for expansion of the transport connections between both countries, the development of mutually advantageous cooperation in the field of gas transmission networks and energy, as well as other economic issues were discussed. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the visa facilitation introduced for Turkish citizens holding Schengen visas, which was evaluated as an alleviating decision supporting the economic and commercial ties between both countries.

During his talks with the Turkish Minister of Energy Taner Yildiz Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov discussed the opportunities for closer cooperation in regard to electricity and gas interconnections. Minister Djankov assured the Turkish side that the timely measures taken by the Bulgarian government to get control of the consequences of the extremely heavy snowfall in the last week as well as getting the floods in border areas under control.