Natural gas should start flowing through Bulgaria-Greece interconnector on October 1

Natural gas should start flowing through the interconnector with Greece on 1 October, this became clear after President Rumen Radev's meeting with the Greek construction company, which is building the pipeline, and the project company "ICGB". The caretaker Prime Minister and the Ministers of Energy and Regional Development also took part in the talks. So far, it has been officially announced that the site has not been issued Acts 15 and 16 to be considered complete, and there have been comments from the fire fighting department and the environment ministry.

The Komotini-Stara Zagora link is a total of 180 km. Its capacity is 3 bcm of blue fuel, in one year. Head of State, Rumen Radev, assured the construction company Avakas and representatives of the project company ICGB that they can use all the state support so that the interconnector can be put into operation at an accelerated pace and Azeri gas can flow through it.

The Head of State pointed out that the interconnector is part of the regional strategic infrastructure:

"The gas interconnection is not just an infrastructure project, it is an object with a strong regional and geopolitical dimension. This project is not only essential for deepening the strategic partnership between our two countries, but it is also of great importance for achieving real diversification of gas supplies to Bulgaria and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It also contributes to ensuring the stable economic development in our region and to the implementation of the European policy to guarantee the independence and security of energy supplies," Radev said.

Radev pointed out that due to the importance of the project, the builders can count on full state support. He said that he hoped that the remaining finishing works and the construction and assembly works concerning fire safety and activities concerning the safe operation of the project would be completed with the full mobilisation of the builders, the contracting authority and the support of the Bulgarian state, in the person of the Bulgarian government.

The owner of the Greek construction company assured that once they have been instructed what legal requirements they have to meet, the delay will be made up.

"We have estimates to hand over the site by the end of the month, but a delay of up to 7-8 September is unlikely to be that significant. Once it is commissioned, we will be available as we will provide 2 years of warranty maintenance," said Antonis Mithzalis.

The CEO of ICGB said they are already in talks with Bulgargaz about the readiness to feed Azeri blue fuel through the connector.

"We are currently in discussion with Bulgargaz on when exactly to activate the Komotini point to receive Azeri gas. They have an annex until the end of September. We have also booked capacity at Nea Mesemvria and Siderokastro, so we will fully comply with their commitments so that at the first opportunity we can come on board and activate the Komotini point," said ICGB CEO Theodora Georgieva.

After the meeting, the caretaker energy minister predicted when the interconnector would be operational.

"According to the schedule, commercial quantities of gas should flow through the pipeline on October 1. What bothered me a bit is that they could not provide us with a detailed timetable for the implementation of absolutely all activities. We have agreed that on Wednesday we will do an on-site meeting where they will deliver the schedule," Rosen Hristov said.

Whether Bulgaria will be forced to negotiate with the Kremlin for Russian gas also depends on getting the connector online on time, Hristov said.

"Whether we buy gas from Gazprom depends on whether all the country's needs will be covered by other suppliers. This is also linked to the launch of the interconnector because, as you know, gas from Azeribaijan is scheduled to be delivered after October 1 through this pipeline."

Earlier today, the regional development ministry circulated pictures of the unfinished construction work, in response to the announcement circulated yesterday by the project company, ICGB, that the construction had been completed and there was gas in the pipe. The caretaker minister confirmed that the facility is not operational.

"No. It is not fit for operation at the moment. Whether there is gas in the pipes or not at the moment is not that important. If there is gas, its amount is equal to a tank. That gas is not moving and the facility is virtually inoperable. The question whether there is gas in the pipes or not is not the problem in this case," caretaker Minister Shishkov said.

According to project estimates, the connector can increase its capacity from 3 to 5 bcm of gas.