site.btaContractor Selection Procedure for Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector Begins by Year's End

Contractor Selection Procedure for Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector Begins by Year's End

Sofia, June 15 (BTA) - A procedure for the selection of a contractor for the engineering and the supply of the pipes and equipment for building the gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) will be launched by the year's end, the Executive Director of the ICGB Bulgarian-Greek company, Teodora Georgieva, said at the 12th conference "Strategic Infrastructure and Investments in Bulgaria 2017". The project is implemented in accordance with the preliminary schedule as the facility is expected to be completed in 2020, the expert said.

The estimated cost of the construction is 220 million euro. Of these 45 million euro are provided under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), Georgieva said. "In recent years we experienced some difficulties providing additional funds within the structural funds. However, we expect some development within days. The anticipated financing amounts to around 35 million euro. The higher percentage of external financing makes the project even more competitive," she went on to say.

An environmental impact assessment of both sections (on the Bulgarian and the Greek side) has been performed. The technical design is also ready.

What needs to be done is to submit an application to the European Commission for determining the facility's status within the Third Liberalization Energy Package. The ICGB expects this to happen by the year's end.