BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) stands ready to appraise new loan requests for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, EIB told Trend.
“The disbursement and allocations of the tranches of the EIB loan are connected with the progress of the physical implementation of the IGB Project. In this respect, currently we cannot provide any further dates. As regards any new loan requests, the Bank stands ready to appraise them as they come in and in line with the EIB existing policy,” said the Bank.
The project company ICGB which is responsible for the implementation of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector, has recently successfully utilized the first tranche of the loan financing from the EIB.
The total value of EIB financing for the purposes of the project amounts to EUR 110 million, which is secured by a guarantee from the Bulgarian state.
The EIB loan agreement was signed with BEH in 2019, so the financing of the IGB project is fully secured. The total value of the interconnector that will connect the gas transmission networks of Bulgaria and Greece, is nearly EUR 240 million, provided from shareholders' capital, a loan from the EIB of EUR 110 million with a state guarantee and grants of EUR 39 million under the Operational Program "Innovation and Competitiveness 2014-2020". For the purposes of the project, EUR 45 million have been provided from the European Energy Program for Recovery.
IGB project envisages the construction of a gas interconnector that will link the gas transmission systems of Greece and Bulgaria. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182.6 km, and its capacity for gas transmission is 3 billion cubic meters per year with the option to reach 5 billion cubic meters.
The route of the gas pipeline is divided into 7 main lots, the shortest being 9.55 km long and the longest - 71.90 km. 106 km of the route in Bulgaria will be completed with automatic welding, and the remaining 45 km - by manual welding.
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