Sofia hosts inauguration of Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector PHOTO

On October 1, the capital of the Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia, hosted the opening ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector (IGB).

The ceremony was attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Caliber.Az reports referring to the press service of the head of state.

The head of state addressed the event.

The total length of the Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector (IGB) that connects the gas transmission networks of Bulgaria and Greece is 182 km.

The project is implemented by Bulgaria-Greece investment company ICGB AD, registered in Bulgaria in 2011, together with the shareholders - Bulgaria's Energy Holding and Greek company IGI Poseidon, each holding 50 per cent of the shares.

The total value of the interconnector is over 240 million euros. In 2010, the European Commission provided grant assistance of 45 million euros for feasibility studies and another payment of 35 million euros as part of a programme implemented by Bulgaria. The European Investment Bank provided a 110 million euros loan.

As a reminder, IGB will deliver to Bulgaria the natural gas produced in the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 field. To this end, the Bulgarian state company Bulgargaz EAD signed an agreement with the Shah Deniz consortium. The annual capacity of the pipeline will be 3 billion cubic metres. In the long term, this can be increased to 5 billion cubic metres per year. Thus, the needs of Bulgaria will be met by 25-30 per cent.

Also, it should be noted that the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe began in late 2020 with the commissioning of the last segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - TAP. Current buyers of Azerbaijani gas are Türkiye, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Italy. As can be seen, the need for Azerbaijani gas in the face of new challenges is increasing.