SOFIA- Bulgaria and Qatar signed a memorandum on Thursday to cooperate in building new infrastructure for the delivery of Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas to the Balkan country and southeastern Europe.

The document, signed during a visit by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Sofia.

"Bulgaria and Qatar will support the participation of their national energy companies in joint projects linked to the exploration, production, transport and distribution of hydrocarbons," the Bulgarian government said in a statement.

Bulgaria, almost fully reliant on Russian gas, is seeking to diversify its supplies and plans to set up a gas hub in the Black Sea port of Varna. L8N1G245C

Qatar, the largest producer and exporter of LNG, has announced plans to expand its annual production to 100 million tonnes from its current 77 million.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; editing by Jason Neely) ((tsvetelia.tsolova@thomsonreuters.com; +359-2-93-99-731;))