Balkan countries on Wednesday pledged to set up an inter-Balkan natural gas grid in a bid to ensure the supply of natural gas in the area.

Representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey opened a meeting of transportation and distribution companies for Russian natural gas in the Balkans in Athens.

The meeting aims to draft a timetable for the maintenance and development of sections of a natural gas Inter-Balkan system, running through the participating countries.

Nikos Stephanou, the Secretary-General of Greek Development Ministry, said demand for natural gas in Greece was expected to rise rapidly over the next few years, to more than 6 billion cubic meters by 2010 and 7.5 billion in 2015.

Russian supplies account for around 80 percent of Greece's natural gas imports. Greek imports are expected to surpass 2.5 billion cubic meters this year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2006)