Bulgaria will start looking for financing for Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria at the end of April, the country’s government said on Tuesday. Bulgaria expects to receive the technical project for the gas interconnector after which it will consider financing for the project, the government said in a press release. The construction of the gas link is planned to start at the beginning of 2015 at the latest.
The 182-kilometre IGB Pipeline, which will start at the northeastern Greek city of Komotini and end at Stara Zagora, in southern Bulgaria, will carry 3.0 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually in its initial stage and will have a maximum capacity of 5.0 bcm per year. It will be eventually connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), carrying natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe through Greece. The pipeline, which is expected to become operational in 2016, is estimated to cost 220 million euro.