Baku, Azerbaijan, June 14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
All financial issues of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) related to the European Union (EU) are likely to be closed soon, Teodora Georgieva, executive officer at ICGB AD joint venture company, the project’s operator, told Trend.
“There is a very good probability to close all financial topics related with EU, as well as exemption from the rules for tariff, ownership and access to third parties and additional grant issues,” she said.
Georgieva pointed out that there are positive developments in the process of granting state aid clearance for sovereign guarantee and grants for the project.
All these developments will facilitate the start of construction of IGB, she added.
Earlier, Georgieva said that the project has an approved grant of 45 million euros under the European Energy Program for Recovery (EEPR) and 110 million euros worth state guarantee from Bulgarian government.
“Further the project company has applied for additional grant financing from the ESIF (European Structural and Investment Funds) of Bulgaria and Greece. The amount of the grant financing is subject to evaluation and approval by the relevant managing authorities of both countries and European Commission,” she added.
European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic for his part told Trend that market integration in South Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans is one of EU priorities with a clear objective – secure supplies, a choice of suppliers and competitive prices.
“Therefore, we have always promoted the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor to further markets, including in the Energy Community countries in the Western Balkans. The Interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria is about to become a reality,” he added.
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.
---
Follow the author on Twitter:@Lyaman_Zeyn