Advisor to Bulgarian energy minister talks IGB construction launch within SGC

By  Trend

Construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, will start in late 2018, Rosen Simitchiev, advisor to energy minister of Bulgaria, said June 13 at the international conference titled “Southern Gas Corridor and Energy Security in South-East Europe” in Baku.

He said that the ICGB, the project company developing the gas interconnection Greece-Bulgaria, is actively working to complete the tender procedures for the delivery of pipes and the construction of the pipeline by the second half of 2018.

Construction of the IGB is scheduled to be completed by the first half of 2020, he added.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 220 million euros, he said.

The project has already received a grant of 45 million euros under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) and about 39 million euros from the European Structural and Investment Funds for Bulgaria, Simitchiev said.

In addition, the Bulgarian government has confirmed the provision of state guarantee worth 110 million euros from the budget for 2018 for the IGB, he noted.

This will allow Bulgaria to obtain a loan on favorable terms from the European Investment Bank, Simitchiev said, adding that Bulgaria plans to sign the loan agreement by the end of the year.

IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.

The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.