Bulgaria Receives EU Funds for Pipelines (Update)

(Updates with funding on ICGB at end)

Bulgarian gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgas has received €27.185mn ($30.5mn) from the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility, it said April 2.

The funds will help cover the construction or rehabilitation and commissioning of two sections of the northern section, together stretching for about 80 km. The aim is a more secure and reliable natural gas transmission system. Work started in January and is due to be completed in June 2022.

The main objective is the alignment of Bulgartransgaz' transmission network with the plans for development of the infrastructure in the region, it said.

This will ensure a technical possibility to transport additional quantities of natural gas through the country that enter through the existing and new entry and exit points, such as the interconnections Greece-Bulgaria, Bulgaria-Serbia, the Balkan gas hub concept and the plans for expansion of Chiren underground gas storage facility.

Interconnector Greece Bulgaria project selects shortlist

The joint Greek-Bulgarian Interconnector (ICGB) project company has shortlisted five companies to design, procure and build the pipeline. The estimated value of the public procurement is set as a total price of €145mn and will also have funding from the EU.

ICGB plans to complete the selection process in May, in order to start construction in June. “The project company and its shareholders have mobilised all the resources to comply with the schedule for starting construction, relying on the high quality of the technical proposals of the participants and their professionalism," said the Greek and Bulgarian joint CEOs in a statement. The gas for that line could come from Azerbaijan, through the section of the TransAdriatic Pipeline that crosses Greece.

ICGB has EC, govt funds

The European Commission (EC) officially approved the allocation of €33mn from the EU budget for the construction of Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, the project company said April 3. The funds will be allocated under the Operational Program "Innovation and Competitiveness" (OPIC) 2014-2020, with a total grant amount of €39mn, of which €33.15mn (85%) comes from yhe European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the remaining €5.85mn are national co-financing