site.btaGreece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector to Become Operational Starting July 1

The construction of the gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece will be completed at the end of June, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told reporters during an inspection of the construction of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector by the village of Malko Kadievo near Stara Zagora, together with the Minister of Energy.

According to Petkov, the work on the project over the past three months has advanced as much as over the entire previous year. He pointed out that he has very good communication with the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The pipes have been laid, and the gas will flow on July 1, according to Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov. The investment decision for the project was adopted in 2015. The project is implemented by the joint venture IGB, in which the Bulgarian state, through the Bulgarian Energy Holding, and the Greek-Italian shareholder IGI Poseidon participate with equal shares. According to Minister Nikolov, there is an opportunity to increase the capacity from three to five billion cubic metres per year, given the forthcoming commissioning of the planned terminal to the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, where the Bulgarian state already has a 20 per cent share.

Kiril Petkov stressed the importance of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector for the diversification of natural gas supplies.