Bulgarian Minister of Energy Aleksandar Nikolov said during a hearing in the Parliament that the goal for the gas interconnector with Greece is to be commissioned by 1 July this year in order to be ready before the next heating season.
Minister Nikolov explained that due to the delay in the project, Bulgaria will insist on compensation from the contractor. He added that the
Government had demanded payment but did not specify exact amount.
He said that there was a request to postpone the deadline by the contractor, but the Government rejected the request.
182 kilometers long Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnection is designed with the capacity between 3 and 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, but it could be extended up to 10 billion cubic meters in case of commercial interest and economical justification. The construction of the pipeline officially started on 22 May 2019. It was supposed to be completed by the end of 2020.
