BULGARIA ALLOCATES UP TO BGN 2.1 MLN FOR THE GAS CONNECTION WITH GREECE

The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) has earmarked some BGN 2.1 mln for the preparation of a technical project for the construction of the interconnector with Greece, reads the procedure for the selection of a consultant for the project, posted on BEH's webpage. Companies may submit their offers until 16 March at the ICJB office, the company, which is responsible for the construction of the pipeline between Komotini and Stara Zagora. 


The deadline for implementation of the order is until a permit for the construction of the interconnector is obtained, explaine BEH. Under the plan, the construction should be completed by the end of 2013 and the Bulgarian section of the pipeline will be some 150 km long. The construction of the pipeline between Komotini and Stara Zagora will cost around €130 mln and the EU has allocated €45 mln to the project under the recovery plan. At least 1.4 billion cu m of gas per year will pass along the conduit and the quantity should subsequently be increased to 5 bn cubic m per year at the most. Bulgaria is expected to receive also 1 billion cu m of gas from Azerbaijan along the pipeline, negotiated by former President Georgi Parvanov.


The consortium building the Nabucco gas conduit is considering to halve its capacity, reported Wall Street Journal, citing its own sources. The new idea is for the pipe to be only between Austria and Bulgaria, and it is not clear where the gas would come from. The initial Nabucco project planned the construction of a 3,900-km long pipeline, connecting Central Asia and Austria through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. The capacity of Nabucco was planned at 31 billion cu m of gas and the project was expected to cost around €8 bn.