BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Local end users and businesses will soon feel the benefits of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), executive director of ICGB company Teodora Georgieva said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“This has been a monumental achievement for the entire ICGB team. The sole idea for the IGB pipeline may have been born on paper back in 2009, but now, having achieved this major milestone and recollecting the time when I joined the project in 2015, the thought of completing this project seemed almost impossible at times. This is not only international, but also highly geopolitical project from the very start. No one had foreseen the challenging reality in which IGB has to become operational – the war in Ukraine, Europe’s determination to limit the need for Russian national gas supplies and the planned energy transition to greener alternatives in the near future,” she said.
Georgieva pointed out that yet, even today IGB stands as an innovative, high-tech project that opens a new and secure route for natural gas deliveries to both host countries and to the winder SEE region.
“To achieve this, we had to start almost from scratch and develop a highly motivated and talented team that looked upon this project as a personal cause. Securing the funding took us about 4 years – as you know, IGB is possible though shareholder funds, a loan under the EIB, funding under the EERP and a grant under OPIC 2014-2020. All key contractors were selected though procurement procedures under the Bulgarian Pubic Procurement Act, which inevitably led to some legal challenges and setbacks. The COVID-19 pandemic was yet another obstacle we had to tackle along the way. I can’t say getting here was easy, but thanks to our dedicated team, the consistent support of the European Commission, the national energy regulators, the national governments over the years and our international partners we’re finally here,” noted the executive director.
She went on to add that this is a huge step towards energy diversification for both host countries and a major achievement for Europe as well.
“I am beyond proud of what we were able to achieve over the past few years. And I believe the local end users and businesses will soon feel the benefits of IGB as well,” said Georgieva.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn