Baku, Azerbaijan, April 18
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The text of the loan agreement between European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) on the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) has been finalized, Teodora Georgieva, executive director of the ICGB project company, told Trend.
“We need to sign the loan agreement between EIB and BEH and reciprocal on-lending agreement between BEH and ICGB. The text of the loan agreement between BEH and EIB has been finalized. Now my colleagues from Poseidon as part of ICGB are reviewing the on-lending agreement. Our target is to sign both agreements latest in June,” she said.
Georgieva noted that it is necessary to finalize also the tie-in agreement before construction which is a technical requirement between neighboring operators and ICGB.
She noted that the interconnection agreement between Greece and Bulgaria will be signed before the start of operation.
“The construction will start in June. Now we are planning a ground breaking ceremony,” added the executive director.
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 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.
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