ICGB, a joint venture company of Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and IGI Poseidon, in which Greek Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) and Italian Edison hold equal stakes, in charge of the project for the construction of gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Greece, said that it has received the third tranche of financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the amount of 30 million euros.
The next and last tranche in the amount of 19.9 million euros is expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2022, and will be used to cover the cost of equipment supplies.
In late 2019, EIB said that it will provide a 110 million euros loan to state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) for the construction of gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Greece, the so-called IGB pipeline. Previously, the Bulgarian Government said that it will issue a state guarantee for a 110 million euros loan provided by the EIB, which will be taken out by BEH, which must be repaid within 25 years and comes with three-year utilization period.
The interconnection was planned to be commissioned by the end of 2020, when Bulgaria’s 25-year deal with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to import 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year starts.
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.
