site.btaUPDATED PM Petkov Reports Considerable Progress in Finalization of Documents for Commissioning of Bulgaria-Greece Gas Interconnector

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov Friday reports considerable progress in the finalization of documents for the commissioning of the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector. "After the constriction of the interconnector with Greece was completed on July 8, now we can report significant progress in finalizing the documentary part that is needed for the interconnector to start operating," Petkov said at a news briefing in the government HQ.

The project company, ICGB, has promised to secure a certificate of the project's operability (Act 16) in the coming four weeks. This certificate will push down the price of gas that the interconnector will carry, Petkov said.

He grabbed an opportunity to criticize the formerly ruling GERB party for their reluctance to implement the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector project and said that they secretly worked for the interests of Gazprom. He also said that the outgoing government showed that this project can be brought to completion within six months.

According to Petkov, if Act 16 is not issued in August - despite the readiness of all participants in the process - it will mean that "we are back to the years when the national interest was not the topmost consideration".

At the news briefing, outgoing Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov added that the price of natural gas can be expected to come down considerably from 1 October thanks to the commissioning of the interconnector.

He went on to say that the project is important for the entire region.

He said that Bulgaria was the first country to identify Azerbaijan and gas supplies from there via the southern gas corridor as a possible alternative or ensuring energy security in Southeast Europe.

The progress towards commercial operation of the interconnector was also confirmed by ICGB CEO Teodora Georgieva. She recalled that the energy regulators of Greece and Bulgaria have already certified the interconnector for commercial operation.

The Greece-Bulgaria interconnector links the natural gas transmission networks of the two neighbouring countries, thus providing access to the Southern Gas Corridor and a range of new gas sources. It will carry gas from Azerbaijan via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and from other sources via a planned liquefied natural gas terminal at Alexandroupolis, Northern Greece. The gas pipeline is 182 km long, of which 151 km in Bulgaria and 31 km in Greece, with a design capacity of up to 3 billion cu m/year, which may be increased to 5 billion cu m/year if there is market demand. It runs from Komotini (Northeastern Greece) via Kurdjali, Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad to Stara Zagora (Southeastern Bulgaria).

A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed back in 2009 and a joint company, ICGB, was registered in 2011. The initial plan was to commission the pipeline in December 2014.