Bulgaria Opens Tenders for Serbian Gas Link
Bulgaria's Bulgartransgaz has opened the first two tenders for the development of a gas link with Serbia, it said on June 15.
One contract worth up to levs 540,000 ($312,000) is for the pipeline's technical design, with a deadline for bids of July 3, while the second is for a levs 320,000 contract for project consultant services and construction supervision. The deadline in that tender is July 17.
The gas link is due online in May 2022 and is listed as an EU project of common interest (PCI). The European Investment Bank (EIB) earlier this month approved €25mn ($28.2mn) in financing for the project's Serbian section, which is expected to cost a total of €86mn.
According to the EIB's website, the pipeline will flow between 1.0 and 1.8bn m3/yr of gas from Bulgaria to Serbia, and 0.15bn m3 from Serbia to Bulgaria. It will help both countries diversify their gas supply routes and sources, but will also facilitate the transport of Russian gas through southeast Europe arriving from the TurkStream pipeline.
